Indonesia is so underrated

𝗝𝘂𝘀𝘁 𝗴𝗼𝘁 𝗯𝗮𝗰𝗸 𝗳𝗿𝗼𝗺 𝗜𝗻𝗱𝗼𝗻𝗲𝘀𝗶𝗮 𝘆𝗲𝘀𝘁𝗲𝗿𝗱𝗮𝘆! 𝗪𝗵𝗮𝘁 𝘄𝗮𝘀 𝘀𝘂𝗽𝗽𝗼𝘀𝗲𝗱 𝘁𝗼 𝗯𝗲 𝗮 𝗽𝗮𝗰𝗸𝗲𝗱 𝗯𝘂𝘀𝗶𝗻𝗲𝘀𝘀 𝘁𝗿𝗶𝗽 𝘁𝘂𝗿𝗻𝗲𝗱 𝗶𝗻𝘁𝗼 𝗮𝗻 𝘂𝗻𝗲𝘅𝗽𝗲𝗰𝘁𝗲𝗱 𝗰𝘂𝗹𝘁𝘂𝗿𝗮𝗹 𝗮𝗱𝘃𝗲𝗻𝘁𝘂𝗿𝗲 𝗮𝗻𝗱 𝗮 𝗽𝗿𝗼𝗳𝗼𝘂𝗻𝗱 𝗺𝗮𝗿𝗸𝗲𝘁 𝗶𝗻𝘀𝗶𝗴𝗵𝘁.

I booked my tickets to Jakarta, only to realize later that my dates crashed right into their biggest holiday of the year (Eid al-Fitr / Lebaran). My grand plans for extensive customer visits were suddenly in jeopardy.

𝗧𝗼 𝗺𝗮𝗸𝗲 𝘁𝗵𝗶𝗻𝗴𝘀 𝗺𝗼𝗿𝗲 𝗰𝗵𝗮𝗹𝗹𝗲𝗻𝗴𝗶𝗻𝗴, 𝗺𝘆 𝗳𝗹𝗶𝗴𝗵𝘁 𝘄𝗮𝘀 𝗱𝗲𝗹𝗮𝘆𝗲𝗱 𝗯𝘆 𝟭𝟬 𝗵𝗼𝘂𝗿𝘀, 𝗹𝗮𝗻𝗱𝗶𝗻𝗴 𝗺𝗲 𝗶𝗻 𝗝𝗮𝗸𝗮𝗿𝘁𝗮 𝗹𝗮𝘁𝗲 𝗮𝘁 𝗻𝗶𝗴𝗵𝘁.

𝗕𝘂𝘁 𝘆𝗼𝘂 𝗱𝗼𝗻’𝘁 𝗳𝗹𝘆 𝘁𝗵𝗮𝘁 𝗳𝗮𝗿 𝘁𝗼 𝗷𝘂𝘀𝘁 𝗴𝗶𝘃𝗲 𝘂𝗽. The next morning, navigating an unfamiliar city right before the holiday shutdown, I hustled and managed to visit 3 major wholesalers.

Language barrier? Not an issue. AI translation tools saved the day. We had great initial talks, exchanged contacts, and dropped off our hardware catalogs. I’ll be following up and shipping out samples as soon as their holiday ends.

Since business was paused, I decided to lean into the culture. I traveled through 𝗦𝗲𝗺𝗮𝗿𝗮𝗻𝗴, 𝗦𝗼𝗹𝗼, 𝗬𝗼𝗴𝘆𝗮𝗸𝗮𝗿𝘁𝗮, 𝗮𝗻𝗱 𝗟𝗼𝗺𝗯𝗼𝗸. Two major takeaways from this trip:

𝟭. 𝗧𝗵𝗲 𝗪𝗮𝗿𝗺𝘁𝗵 𝗼𝗳 𝘁𝗵𝗲 𝗣𝗲𝗼𝗽𝗹𝗲: The Indonesian hospitality is unmatched. Locals were incredibly welcoming, constantly greeting me, asking where I was from, and going out of their way to help when I was navigating the streets.

𝟮. 𝗧𝗵𝗲 𝗗𝗲𝗺𝗼𝗴𝗿𝗮𝗽𝗵𝗶𝗰 𝗘𝗻𝗲𝗿𝗴𝘆: This was my biggest observation as a manufacturer. Traveling during their holiday, the sheer volume of young people was striking — a stark contrast to the aging demographics I’ve seen in Europe and East Asia.

With its vast territory, massive and young population, competitive labor costs, and a stable environment, Indonesia’s commercial potential is undeniable. 𝗜𝘁’𝘀 𝗻𝗼 𝘄𝗼𝗻𝗱𝗲𝗿 𝘄𝗲 𝗮𝗿𝗲 𝘀𝗲𝗲𝗶𝗻𝗴 𝗮 𝗰𝗹𝗲𝗮𝗿 𝘁𝗿𝗲𝗻𝗱 𝗼𝗳 𝗳𝗮𝗰𝘁𝗼𝗿𝗶𝗲𝘀 𝗿𝗲𝗹𝗼𝗰𝗮𝘁𝗶𝗻𝗴 𝗳𝗿𝗼𝗺 𝗖𝗵𝗶𝗻𝗮 𝗮𝗻𝗱 𝗩𝗶𝗲𝘁𝗻𝗮𝗺 𝘁𝗼 𝗜𝗻𝗱𝗼𝗻𝗲𝘀𝗶𝗮. The demographic dividend here is very real. 📈

For my network in the manufacturing and supply chain space: Are you also looking at Southeast Asia, particularly Indonesia, for your next strategic move? Let me know your thoughts below! 👇