The act of juggling requires three motions. The throw, the catch and the repeated action to keep the ball in the air. Whilst many people think the key to juggling is catching, the actual secret lies in its throw. Flinging the ball up at the same height and speed every time allows the brain to anticipate its trajectory, therefore letting muscle memory take over and repeat the action instinctively.
As an archipelagic nation, Indonesia possesses the population, natural resources and land to establish itself as a dominant power not only in the region, but on a global stage. Its disinterest in expansion and neither Chinese nor Western leaning allows a neutral position, and a focus on domestic growth and development can then take centre stage. Enter the juggling act.
Scene One
If the rest of the world is changing, Indonesia looks to metamorphosise. The parliament-approved establishment of its new capital on the island of Borneo, Nusantara; Javanese Sanskrit for ‘archipelago’, is set to begin construction, with the grand ambition of being an environmentally-friendly city relying entirely on renewable energy.
The idea of capital relocation is not a new one; past attempts have been floated up in parliament due to Jakarta’s problems with congestion and literal sinking, with an estimated third of the city to be submerged by 2050. Further reasons include the economic encouragement of other islands in Indonesia, as over 50% of the economy is located in Java.
Famously resource-rich, Indonesia is the largest consumer of oil in Southeast Asia, with a reported 1,634 barrels used a day in 2021. The country’s abundance in palm oil has allowed it to use the natural resource as an economic bedrock, building its wealth through oil-export and manufacturing. For the past decade however, investment has shifted to other sectors in a bid to combat climate woes and inspire diversified growth.
The Catch
The Indonesian people have always been innately entrepreneurial. Independent businesses line the sides of roads, individuals seemingly invent services out of thin air to meet previously unknown needs. This exceptionally unique quality is reflected in the country’s growing tech industry, with the Ministry of Finance predicting a growth of $2.8 trillion USD through technology adoption. Thousands of tech start-ups and over 175 million internet users have led the nation to establish itself as a fast-growing market at blinding speed.
Indonesia through a rare blend of cultural characteristics, economy and scalability, Indonesia has built a figurative tech skyscraper; of which the ceiling continues to rise. To support this growth, large data center infrastructure is needed, and the potential for expansion is immense.
Read more at : Data Center Report 2022 – Jakarta Colocation Hyperscale Cloud
Current cloud service providers in Jakarta include Alibaba Cloud and Google Cloud, with other data center operators such as Princeton Digital Group and EdgeConneX having confirmed blueprints of establishing their own facilities.
The rise in popularity of the sector has also been cheerfully adopted by the country’s National Development Planning Agency, Bappenas, who have undoubtedly acknowledged its infrastructural and economic prospects through appointing French engineering firm, Sofrecom, to carry out an industry study.
Read more at : Indonesia Emerging Preferred Data Center Hub Asia
The Throw
Alongside a rapidly-growing tech sector and a new capital city in the works , Indonesia has vowed to decrease its dependence on oil and increase its proportion of renewable power in its 2021-2030 national electricity plan, to reportedly at least 48%, from 30% in the 2019-2028 plan.
Conversely, Indonesia’s national energy plan issued in 2015 has projected oil to take up 25% of the country’s energy mix by 2025 and 20% by 2050, but as of 2021, oil accounted for a staggering 31%, a reflection of Indonesia’s domestic reliance on crude oil and its current inadequate efforts in reaching its energy goals.
All this comes amid the G-20 summit this November, which will be held in Bali. Indonesian President Joko Widodo, who currently holds the G20 Presidency, affirmed during his appointment speech in Rome to bridge the gap between developing and developed nations during his time as chair, especially in regard to COVID vaccine availability, energy transition and economic recovery from the pandemic.
The Indonesians have a famous saying; ”sambil menyelam minum air”, directly translating to “drinking water while driving”. The expression cheekily refers to the act of multitasking and managing to accomplish more than one task at a time. If Indonesia is to succeed in its terrific ambition of Nusantara, reach its energy targets and continue to attract data center investment, it must be able to stay consistent in achieving its goals gradually. Success in this juggle will be key in the nation’s claiming as one of Asia’s prominent superpowers within the coming years.
