Welcome to the VIP Lounge: How Indonesia Made FDI a Members-Only Affair

Indonesia talks about welcoming FDI, but real investors face control, gatekeeping, and policy traps that keep power firmly in local hands.

Indonesia, at first glance, is the kind of place that makes foreign investors salivate. Endless commodities, a young population, a government that swears it wants your capital, and a growing list of trade expos where officials declare open arms for Silicon Valley’s finest. The surface narrative is polished. Multinationals are courted with charm offensiv…