Forbes Indonesia - December 2021

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Counting down to the end of 2021, and thinking what the year ahead may hold, my thoughts initially were of cautious optimism, which was, co- incidentally, the heading of the sidelines for December 2020. Reflecting further, there is certainly much more to be optimistic about one year on, even if a new normal still seems some months o as countries determine how to handle the emergence of a new COVID-19 variant. As of writing, Indonesia has administered a first dose of vaccines to over 140 million people, just over 50% of the population, whilst approaching 100 million are fully vaccinated. This certainly has played a strong part in the government being able to re-open the economy following the spike in cases mid-year. It also meant that the stricter local mobility restrictions planned for the year-end could be partially relaxed. Conversely, international movements are again being subjected to increased quarantine requirements, damping optimism in the travel and tourism sector, already so badly impacted by the restrictions imposed in most countries, and which had been looking to begin recovering as several countries in the region had announced plans to start opening up borders again.