Is a New Entrepreneurial Generation Emerging in Indonesia?

The main actors in Indonesia's business landscape have long been assumed to be the country's Chinese minority. However, in the last decade, there has been a more visible, growing culture of entrepreneurship amongst the pribumi or native Indonesians.Democratic reforms, decentralization and the deregulation of certain sectors of the economy, facilitated by new information technology, have enabled a new generation of entrepreneurs to emerge outside the traditional system of political patronage. New forms of networking are taking shape within local and national business associations, networking forums, and the marketing and business media. While civil servant positions are still highly sought after, the idea of entrepreneurship and business as careers is becoming more and more popular, especially among young Indonesians. The challenge that the Joko Widodo administration faces is to encourage this new social dynamic without falling into the trap of constructing artificial support programmes. These showed themselves to be counter-productive in the past.