Paper Topic:
Country Analysis: Social, Cultural, Political, and Legal Factors
Running head : INDONESIA MALAYSIA Doing Business in Indonesia and Malaysia Author name Course Teacher Date Doing Business in Indonesia and Malaysia Introduction Indonesia and Malaysia are countries with the fastest growing economies in the world . Together with Singapore , Thailand , Philippines and Vietnam , Indonesia and Malaysia are the top performers in the Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN ) region . Despite the slowdown during the financial crisis in 1997 , ASEAN economies are starting to pick up again . This is because of their strong emphasis on industry and services
while an export-led growth strategy is complemented by efforts to improve business environments and to realize the potentials of a relatively young and educated labor force . The strong economic performance of Indonesia and Malaysia (See Figure 1 ) is the reason why it belongs to the countries dubbed as the ASEAN crouching tigers Figure 1 . Real Gross Domestic Product (GDP ) growth in of leading ASEAN countries (Source : Euromonitor , 8 November 2006
In the overall , doing business in Indonesia and Malaysia remains satisfactory . These countries are benefiting the strong growth in their region as the Economic Intelligence Unit (EIU , 10 October 2007 ) reported that Asia and Australasia has been the world 's fastest-growing region economically for much of the past 25 years , and its share of world GDP (at purchasing power parity ) has risen from just over 20 in the early 1980s to 37 in 2006
Indonesia
As the largest Muslim country in the world , it has a population of 234 million people (CIA World Factbook , 4 October 2007 . Also , Indonesia is composed of numerous related but distinct cultural and linguistic groups . The ethnic groups tend to be derived from the Malay ethnolinguistic groupings , including the Javanese , which make up almost half the population , as well as Sundanese , Madurese and coastal Malays among others . A substantial minority of European and North American expatriates are also living in Indonesia , along with some people of Dutch extraction who are descendants of the colonists . Since independence , the national language , called Indonesian - a form of Bahasa Malaysian - has spread throughout the country and become the language for most written communication , education , government and business . Many local languages remain important in several areas , the most significant of which is Javanese . While English and Dutch are two non-native languages also used in Indonesia , English is the most widely spoken foreign language
Because of their culture , the U .S . Commercial Guide for Indonesia (2007 emphasized that Indonesians do not conduct business transactions or make decisions in the same direct fashion Americans do , so U .S . business people should be prepared to spend a good deal of time with clients before getting down to the business transaction . Traditional Javanese culture puts emphasis on harmony and the word "no " is rarely used . Thus this attitude can make it difficult for a Westerner to ascertain exactly how a business proposal is being received . However , patience and the development of personal relations can be a good virtue in doing business in Indonesia
On the political side , the...
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