Indonesia's government will make a new government regulation that foresees the minimum wage increase in all 33 provinces will be kept below 20 percent in 2014. This new rule is directed to labor-intensive industries, including Indonesia's small and medium businesses. The limitation of the regional minimum wage increase to 20 percent is much lower than the demand from Indonesia's labor associations, which requested minimum wage increases up to 50 percent.

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Freeport Indonesia, subsidiary of American-based Freeport McMoran Copper and Gold, is allowed to continue its open-pit mining activities. The company was forced to halt its mining activities temporarily after an underground tunnel collapsed in mid-May, resulting in the deaths of 28 people. After a thorough evaluation by an independent team of investigators, Freeport is allowed to resume operations. The permission was granted by Indonesia's Ministry of Energy and Mineral Resources.

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While Indonesian President Joko Widodo emphasized the importance of unity among the Indonesian people on the latest Independence Day (17 August 2019), developments in East Java – that occurred several days before Indonesia’s Independence Day – and subsequent protests and violence in Papua had the exact opposite effect. What explains the upsurge in tensions between Papua and Indonesia?

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Elly Dimara never thought that he would be interested to open an inn named Piaynemo Homestay. Well, until five years ago. "I saw the great tourism potential of Raja Ampat. Moreover, I realized that I have a great plot of land that I can develop into a tourist attraction", Elly said.

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The number of poor people in Indonesia rose. According to the latest data from Statistics Indonesia (BPS), released today (15/09), there were 28.59 million poor people in Indonesia in March 2015, equivalent to 11.22 percent of the total Indonesian population. In September 2014 Indonesia’s poverty rate stood at 10.96 percent of the Indonesian population, or 27.73 million people. Thus within a time-span of six months, the number of poor Indonesians rose by around 860,000 people. BPS releases data on the country’s poverty level twice per year covering the months March and September.

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Production is still not back on track at Freeport Indonesia’s Grasberg mine in Papua as around 1,000 workers have not showed up for work since the second week of October. These workers refuse to work after a series of (fatal) incidents that led to concern about safety policies. In May 2013, 28 Freeport Indonesia workers died after a tunnel collapsed. More recently, in late September 2014, four workers died after a giant haulage truck collided with another vehicle (carrying nine passengers) at the Grasberg mine.

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Freeport Indonesia, subsidiary of US-based natural resources company Freeport McMoRan Copper & Gold Inc, is optimistic that the Indonesian government will extend the company’s contract to operate the Grasberg mine in Papua (eastern Indonesia). This mine is the world’s largest gold mine and third-largest copper mine. The current contract between the Indonesian government and Freeport Indonesia expires in 2021. However, Freeport is currently in need of some certainty before investing a large amount on mining operations and smelting facilities.

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The economy of Indonesia is booming with gross domestic product (GDP) surpassing six percent on an annual basis. And the country's strong economic fundamentals are confirmed by increasing international attention. But within the context of this economic growth it is important to take a look at whether economic growth is shared by all segments of Indonesian society. If, for example, only the higher classes of Indonesia would benefit from the economic boom, it could give rise to social issues in the future.

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