Trading Nation

Indonesians are a nation of traders. Everybody is selling something. To make ends meet when salaries are not enough. To help friends who started a trading business. To start a dream of owning a trading company.

Trading activities are everywhere. On the road, you will find street hawkers peddling their fried tofus and bottled water when traffic jams fill highways. During family or friend get-togethers you will be greeted politely by friends and relatives selling from stoves to muslim wears.

One has to be polite to everyone since the opposite could hamper a chance of making that important connection or big sale. One cannot offend other people while at the same time makes a point that her item is better than everyone else's. One has to keep a trade secret tightly while being as open as possible to reveal where she buys her item from. Appearance becomes very important: the more attractive the person is the easier for her to sell her items.

With coastal lines measuring tens of thousands of kilometers, Indonesia is impossible to patrol. There must be a lot of smuggling activities, where goods from China and other countries flood the market freely. However, I think it is futile to try to patrol the coastal lines. It might be more productive to control the market by demanding high quality standard for goods sold and taxing them than to use customs to control the flow of imported goods.

Trading nation seeks a quick return of investment. Money needs to circulate quickly and steadily. I notice business people in Indonesia are not patient to a long investment horizon. They are correct in some respect: if I can make money from trading, why should I bother making a long term investment?

This is not surprising. Indonesia is an archipelago, where each island offers its distinctive products. From candle nuts to rice to oils and minerals. We need each other and from this trading activity comes a healthy profit since its land remains fertile despite increased land and water pollution.

A lot of imported goods flood Indonesian market. It makes manufacturing challenging since many tools have to be imported. Cost to purchase tools is much higher than salary cost. Craftmanship is poor. It is not that craftmanship is poorly appreciated since Bali and Yogyakarta - two artisan cities - are well known for their arts and crafts. But craftmanship is still confined to only arts products.