Speaking during Forbes CEO Conference’s informal dinner on Wednesday, Vice President Jusuf Kalla emphasized that to weather gloomy global economic conditions, Indonesia was cultivating its inner strength, which is the young and middle-income population, as well as natural resources, among others.

“We need you here to invest in this population of 250 million people, which is a good market. Of course there will be competition [with other countries], that’s why the government makes regulations to make the country more efficient,” Kalla told over 400 global CEOs that are scheduled to attend the conference from Tuesday to Thursday.

The economy is expected to see 5 percent growth this year, higher than the global average of around 3 percent, as the government pushes efforts to attract investment by rolling out 14 economic stimulus packages and introducing a tax amnesty to bring in billions of US dollars of Indonesians’ assets parked

overseas.

“We noted from talks in or on the sidelines of the conference that investors’ sentiment [toward Indonesia] was at its peak,” Investment Coordinating Board (BKPM) head Thomas Lembong, who used to own private equity, told a media briefing on the sidelines of the conference, which will see around 50 speakers take part in panel discussions.

President Joko “Jokowi” Widodo, who opened the conference, met with 20 global CEOs at the State Palace on Tuesday, which Thomas noted as “encouraging”.

The government, which has also cut huge unproductive energy subsidies and redirected the funds into productive spending such as infrastructure and social expenditure, will announce “more sophisticated, ambitious and fundamental” programs in 2017 to attract more investment, Thomas said.

“Indonesia is already tackling bureaucratic red tape and infrastructure is already the President’s focus, but the rule of law is still a bit of a problem for us,” Indonesia’s Mayapada Group deputy chairman Jonathan Tahir commented.

The government’s efforts to stoke growth emerge at a time when global economic conditions are filled with uncertainty, with a surprise US election outcome, China’s new normal of slower growth, as well as Britain’s decision to leave the European Union, all of which were unexpected by the market.

The Trump topic especially dominated the conference, as Forbes Media chairman and chief editor Steve Forbes reiterated global businesses’ concerns over business outlook under the Trump administration.

Wang Jianlin, chairman of the world’s largest cinema chain operator, Dalian Wanda Group, said businesspeople should respect the decision of the US people in choosing their president.

“I think we should give Trump a chance as the 45th president of the US, the first businessman to become a president,” said Wang, who received the Malcolm S. Forbes Lifetime Achievement Award on Tuesday. “I’m quite confident that with Trump as the president, the US economy will be better as he won’t take the US economy as a gamble. He will be good for business.”

In the short run, businesses will see massive capital pulling back from Asia to the US and there will be turbulence in Asia’s financial markets in favor of more established currencies such as the dollar, said Richard Li, chairman and founder of the Hong Kong-based private investment group Pacific Century Group.

“But at the same time, it’s an amazing opportunity [to enter Asia] because I don’t see why [not],” Li added.

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