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Jokowi should have known better about Saudi Arabia
Advisors who don’t tell Jokowi this are either clueless (and shouldn’t be advisors, at least not economic advisors) or service some narrow special interest, so they refuse to broaden their horizons.
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King Salman (second left) and Indonesian President Joko “Jokowi” Widodo (center) walk under umbrellas during heavy rain at the Presidential Palace in Bogor, West Java, on March 1. Salman arrived in the world's largest Muslim-majority nation on Wednesday as a part of a multi-nation tour aimed at boosting economic ties with Asia. AP/Pool/Achmad Ibrahim (AP/Pool/Achmad Ibrahim)
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ccording to recent news that state visit of Saudi King Salman bin Abdulaziz Al Saud from the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia (KSA) to Indonesia did not yield the proscribed energy and infrastructure investment President Joko “Jokowi” Widodo was seeking and which instead went to China and Malaysia.
This is not really “news” for anyone who studies Saudi Arabia and its economy. It makes one wonder: Who is actually advising President Jokowi?
It seems perhaps there are people who are clueless about the Middle-East and ongoing events developing there in terms of oil and gas advancement. They should be reprimanded, not for doing a disservice just to Jokowi, but to Indonesia en masse. Namely, these advisors need to showcase examples from KSA, not “kow- tow” for crumbs off the fossil fuel table.
To be clear, Saudi Arabia is the main proxy for all things Middle East, which is all about oil, gas, and oil prices, and will be for the foreseeable future. It also holds the deepest pockets in the investment world, outside of China, and is desperately seeking alpha (returns) on this.
But Saudi Arabia is no longer about crude oil and gas exports only. They have long since moved up the value-added chain with feedstock, textiles and refineries. They want equal, reliable partner relationships for their investments nowadays. They are simply not going to play the role of any country’s economic savior just because that country has oil reserves.
They tried this with Yemen, and it has since backfired badly. They are not going to get lulled into unbalanced partnerships with the exception being turnkey operations (they initiate it, they build it, they maintain it, they keep all the profits and knowhow). Saudi Arabia simply fancies itself as a banker, where they can pick and choose the best projects at their leisure.
Which gets to the next issue, why China and Malaysia? The simple answer is China has shown itself to be a master of infrastructure. They deliver. They don’t get caught up in land disputes that can drag projects out for years. They just “do.” Of course there is a huge social price for all this. China is a dictatorship.
