Investing in Indonesia: Tread carefully or go gung-ho? (#StartupAsia preview)

The Indonesian market is a tantalizing jewel in Southeast Asia. A tech-friendly and growing population welcomes entrepreneurs, investors, and corporations that want to provide for Indonesian consumers. With more than 125 million tech-savvy Indonesians under the age of 30, some experts believe the island nation is the land of opportunity for budding technopreneurs.

But there are risks associated with Indonesia too. English is commonly spoken, but Bahasa Indonesia is still the dominant language. Indonesia’s celebrated multi-culturalism can also prove to be a double-edged sword for product adoption. How do you localize a product when multiple cultures all exist in the same place?

Finally, the Indonesian government does not have the best reputation for embracing foreign entrants. One potential law could soon force foreign companies to build local data centers for themselves, a costly requisite for doing business in the archipelago. Such protectionist policies can severely hinder tech companies in Indonesia, where foreign ownershipis curtailed by the government.

Are the challenges of Indonesia relatively minor or do they necessitate a careful approach to doing business in the country? Risk-taking entrepreneurs and investors might want to jump straight into the deep end, but that is not necessarily the best move.

At Startup Asia Jakarta 2014, we will get to the bottom of this mystery with a panel discussion featuring a lineup of investors who’ve seen and dealt with it all. Moderator Dmitry Alimov (founder and managing partner of Frontier Ventures) will sit down with Nobuaki Kitagawa (managing director, CyberAgent Ventures Inc.), Dmitry Levit (general partner atDigital Media Partners), Roderick Purwana (director at Sinar Mas Digital Ventures), and Stefan Jung (partner at Monk’s Hill Ventures).

These participating panelists will give valuable insights on how investing and operating in Indonesia is unique, challenging, and beneficial. If you’re looking to put money into Indonesia or want to scale up your current investments, this session is not to be missed.