Jakarta leads Asia's charge
Indonesia's capital defies its image to attract huge investment and luxury real estate development, writes Peta Tomlinson
Indonesia can be many things to many people. Visitors flock to its lauded beaches and mountain tourism sites, while multinational companies head to the capital, Jakarta, to be part of the booming economic action.
Who would have thought, then, that by the end of this year, Indonesia's largest city - and one of the most densely populated metropolises on earth - would emerge as one of the outstanding prime residential markets in the Asia-Pacific region?
Tim Murphy, chief executive of IP Global, doesn't gild the lily. He says nothing has changed to make Jakarta a more desirable place to live. In the 2012 Global Liveability Survey, Jakarta still ranked 118 of 140 cities, advancing only one place from last year, he notes. However, investment is based on numbers, where Jakarta stacks up.
"Attracted by business opportunities, the number of foreign workers on working visas rose 10 per cent from 2010 to 2011. The number of foreign residents in Indonesia, excluding tourists and foreign emissaries, rose by 6 per cent to 111,752 in 2011," Murphy says.
Why are analysts so upbeat? Because of the city's thriving economy with soaring foreign investments, Murphy says. Gross domestic product growth was 6.2 per cent in the third quarter and IHS Global Insight forecasts 6 per cent growth for this year and next year, second only to China in Asia.