t-Tests

Economics of Souvenirs (part 1)

2011-05-12T11:04:00.000+07:00

Indonesia is known for great variety of authentic culinary products and handicrafts. Each city in Indonesia offers its own unique and diverse oleh-oleh for visitors to bring home. Food, clothing and handicrafts are among the more popular souvenirs. Medan in North Sumatera is famous for cakes like bingka ambon, bolu and passion fruit extracts. Home based industry is the main

The Ironies of Indonesia - #1 Merpati

2011-05-08T08:19:00.000+07:00

Yesterday an aircraft crashed near the coast of Papua and killed 27 passengers an crew. The aircraft belongs to struggling Merpati Nusantara Airlines, a state owned company. Until today, rescue team is still trying to evacuate the remaining bodies and the black box from the sea, after managed to recover 16 bodies yesterday. What not known to many is the aircraft is manufactured by Chinese

Is there a future for Islamic Economics in Indonesia? - part 2

2011-04-23T17:25:00.006+07:00

The third panelist in the ISEFID Seminar Series was Dr. Irfan, who is Head of Islamic Economics, Faculty of Economics and Management, Bogor Institute of Agriculture (IPB). He championed the idea of integrating Islamic economics to national economic development strategy. He observes that zakah is among the potential source of income for the country. It has capacity to alleviate poverty and also

Is there a future for Islamic Economics in Indonesia?

2011-04-22T14:56:00.007+07:00

I asked that to four panelists from ISEFID - a think tank yesterday at a seminar hosted by Paramadina Graduate Business School and ISEFID in Jakarta Central Business District.The first to respond was Dr. Masyhudi from Muhammadiyah University in Yogyakarta, who was up beat and explain two things that need fixed before any meaningful contribution made by Islamic economics: human resources and

Crises Years

2011-03-28T16:05:00.000+07:00

1997-98: South East Asia and part of East Asia (in fact, only South Korea) suffered enduring years of financial crisis where banks collapsed and financial system breaks down. Interestingly, regimes also collapsing; Soeharto stepped down and Malaysia’s Deputy PM was fired (allegedly for moral misconduct and partly for his opposition to currency control imposed by the PM).2008-09: US and most of

Indonesian Banks Profit: Out of Proportion?

2011-02-17T16:06:00.000+07:00

Indonesian banks booked a stellar performance in 2010. The industry pocketed more than Rp.57 trillion of handsome profits last year, increased by 30% from Rp.45 trillion in 2009. This is remarkable given the global economy is still recovering. With the Indonesian economy is growing at about 6%, the industry is poised to grow further. Last year it grew by 26.74% and projected to grow by the same

Is inflation an upcoming battle?

2011-02-11T16:08:00.000+07:00

Asia is facing an impending battle with inflation, and it will be a very long one.Indonesian central bank on February 4th announced a 25 basis point increase in its BI rate, or increased from 6.5% to 6.75% after 18 months unchanged. Bank Indonesia, as reported by The Jakarta Post said that this action was necessary to maintain a manageable level of inflationary target, ie. within 5.0-6.5% range,

Crisis time: is it investing nightmare or golden opportunity?

2008-03-26T18:59:00.004+07:00

Now the markets are down; virtually everywhere stock markets gone wild and panicked. Some big names in finance crumbled be in Europe or the US.Some markets are still bleeding while some other are undoubtedly recovering as efforts by the Fed gained momentum. But interestingly, few emerging markets are just moving in different direction. So, a lot of confusion if one to be guided my mere market

The Muslim Market

2008-03-03T10:18:00.002+07:00

Recently I read with awe one of AT Kearney's (a consulting firm) reports entitled "Addressing the Muslim Market, Can You Afford Not To?".I never come across a solid and well researched report on the potentials of the 'Muslim' market as this one. Not only that it covers cliche areas like Islamic banking and finance, but it goes beyond that. It also covers areas like food products, financial

Vietnam and Halal food

2007-06-06T14:53:00.001+07:00

During a recent trip to Hanoi in May 2007, I had a chance to sit with Hanoi Young Business Association. Its Vice Chairman, a young and smart businessman disclosed Vietnam's interest to explore the possibility of producing halal food. It plans to invite food producers from Malaysia, Singapore or Indonesia to locate their production facilities in the country, where it offers attractive packages to

Public Finance and Islam

2007-06-06T14:39:00.000+07:00

Management of public assets is an old subject whereby all civilizations have had some contribution to the development of this body of knowledge. Islamic civilization too had contributed a great deals in sharpening the skills of public fund management, especially among its treasurers in its glorious period. Ottoman was known to have meticolous records/archive system for all its public finance

Ramadhan and High Economics Season

2006-10-19T09:58:00.000+07:00

It is approaching the last week of Ramadhan. Ritual activities in many mosques intensified as Muslims are laboring days and night to seek the greatest joy of Allah, in the form of 'Lailatul-qadr'.Interestingly, the markets are also extremely busy. Most of hypermarts, traditional marketplace, 'pusat grosir' like Tanah Abang, Mangga Dua and virtually all retail activities across the country are

The End of Poverty, overly optimistic?

2006-08-16T12:00:00.000+07:00

The latest Jeff Sachs' work 'The End of Poverty' promises good things to come by 2025, that extreme poverty will be substantially reduced.This is largely in contrast with so many other popular economics works that portrayed a rather bleak future for humanity. Such works as Joe Stiglitz's 'Globalization and Its Discontents', and other notable publications on the changing Geopolitical scenario and

My Work

2006-05-10T14:14:00.000+07:00

I am an analyst/consultant in Advisory Services division of an international development organization. I work mostly on policy advocacy issues, mainly investment climate, private sector development and business environment.Previously, I was a consultant for a reputable Islamic finance consulting firm in Jakarta. My team's clients include one of the largest bank in Indonesia, central bank,