Meneer Dahlan Sticks It to Holland

Apr 12th, 2012, in Business & Economy, Featured, by

Plucky Indonesia leaves former colonial oppressor the Netherlands in the dust.

Dahlan IskanDahlan Iskan, the minister for state enterprises (BUMN), said on 11th April that Indonesia had made great economic strides in recent years, and had even eclipsed former colonial power the Netherlands.

Speaking on TVRI/RRI/Antara’s patriotically named talkback show “Merah Putih” our hero said:

Ten years ago we couldn’t have expected that we would pass the Netherlands economy [in size].

He went on to say that Indonesia was now an economy that had to be taken seriously by the world, with a Gross Domestic Product of around $800 billion (estimate for 2011), compared to the Netherlands “only” $700 billion.


Official (2010) figures, not quite there yet

What’s more, per capita annual income in the country was now $3500, but Dahlan, also the CEO of Jawa Pos (media) Group, neglected to make a comparison with the Netherlands on that score. antara


6 Comments on “Meneer Dahlan Sticks It to Holland”

  1. Oigal says:

    More abject nonsense from people who should know better! The economy is built upon the unsustainable stripping resources from the nation to the benefit of a very select few. There is no “sovereign wealth fund” socking away cash for the day the resources run out. The vast majority of people still live varying degrees of poverty with children dying of malnutrition in supposedly resource rich provinces. Infrastructure outside Jakarta/Java is a joke (and pretty shoddy then anyway).

    Get back to us, when a person can catch a ferry or train with out risk to life and limb, when you have not got whole communities living under tollway bridges and people are not being turned away from hospitals because they have no money.

    Essentially these people have failed the Indonesian people on any civilized measure be it social responsibility, infrastructure, rule of law, democracy etc. To even compare the nations in this fashion borders on the obscene.

    As final proof, a look at the sad bag of potential presidential candidates means another decade as an international joke run by a bunch of self serving parasites.

  2. Chris says:

    The Netherlands has a population of 16 million. Indonesia has a population of about 240 million.

    That means, for every Dutch dude, there are 15 Indonesians…

    Indonesia’s GDP is only bigger than the Netherlands’ now?

  3. diego says:

    Unnecessary (and idiotic) nationalistic bragging. This guy needs to have his feet back on the ground. Enough stunts. It’s getting boring.

  4. berlian biru says:

    Again the naysayers and begrudgers come out of the woodwork. Congratulations Indonesia, it’s been tough and there’s a hell of a lot more work to be done, a hell of a lot, but keep it up, you’re on the right track.

    Damn the whiners, you’re making progress.

  5. saiful ihsan says:

    an honor for Indonesian society, where citizens can be the name of his own country, salute

  6. madrotter says:

    Anybody been to Jalan Braga in Bandung lately? It’s a total disaster zone since they made a new road made with little stones, they’re constantly repairing it to no avail, it’s dangerous, it’s terrible. Dutch government gave a million Euro’s to do that, i’d be surprised if they even used a tenth of that money for it…..

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