JAKARTA - Less than a year after Donald Trump Jr visited Jakarta to mark the Trump Organization's foray into South-east Asia's biggest country, his ultra-luxury project in Bali is facing a new reality: Indonesians are holding back spending as the coronavirus ravages the nation's US$1 trillion economy.
The pandemic has hit Indonesia harder than the 1997 Asian financial crisis, battering small and big businesses alike, President Joko Widodo said last week. With the economy on course to contract as much as 3.8 per cent this quarter, even rich Indonesians aren't in the mood to splurge. Average monthly sales of luxury cars from Mercedes Benz to Lexus and BMW have plunged 50 per cent in April and May from the previous quarter.
The other project is a resort and condos in Lido in West Java. The partnerships signed in 2015 entitles Trump Organization to receive royalties from the Indonesian developer for the use of the Trump brand. The organisation will also get a fee to manage the hotels and golf courses and commission from sales of the Trump-branded villas and condos.
The slowdown in spending can't last forever, said Paulus Totok Lusida, secretary general of Real Estate Indonesia, an industry association.