We have talked before about the quiet rise of Malaysia as a serious business center in the past few months.

But the same could be said for Indonesia, admittedly from further back. Since the riots that downed Soeharto, the uneasy reform rule of Abdurrahman Wahid as political heavyweights jokeyed for position behind the scenes, and the increasing attention on Islam extremism since 7/11, many have written off Indonesia.

Yet Indonesia offers some of the best opportunities in the region. Poverty is still endemic, politics is less than stable, and separatist movements get all the headlines overseas. On the other hand, natural resource heavy Indonesia has seen their stock market showing gradual recovery, and they remain a strategic market of well over 200,000,000 for foreign companies. Their boom time fuelled amodern capital, and a business population used to working with foreigners.

But to really see the reality you have to go there. According to the VOANews.com - Analysts Note Indonesian Reality is Less Ominous Than Recent Headlines -

"...Indonesia is too important to ignore. It has the largest Muslim population of any nation, and much of the world's trade passes through its sea lanes.

Do not be put off by all the noise coming from Indonesia, says Donald Emmerson of the Asia/Pacific Research Center at Stanford University. That is the sound of democracy in an early stage. Released from the constraints of military rule, Indonesians are discovering their voice and celebrating their religion. "Since these 220-million people who live in Indonesia are 87-percent Muslim, it is not entirely surprising that democratization means a kind of manifestation of the Islamic religion in the political realm," he says. "To some extent, it is unavoidable. It does not mean violence, al-Qaeda, revolution, bloodshed, overthrow - no."..."