Indonesian Market Outlook: Doing Business in Indonesia

Mr Setyadi Ongkowidjaja (b. 10 October 1957 in Bandung, Indonesia), graduated from the Victoria University of Manchester (UK), where he was awarded runner-up for the Laurie Rossant Prize. As Founder of the architectural firm Atelier East projects that he has designed (residential, resort, school, sheltered home for the elderly and hotel) can be found in the UK, Singapore, Indonesia, Malaysia and Mainland China. In 1993, he won the competition for the design of the residential segment of the 340 hectares Dago Pakar Resort, North Bandung - Indonesia, the largest real estate development (with golf courses and clubhouses) in the area at that time. He served on several Southeast Asia’s architecture, interior design and landscape design juries, including the prestigious Singapore Young Architect of the Year Award 1994, chaired by Lord Norman Foster, UK.

Ongkowidjaja was a member of the Publication Sub-committee of the Singapore Institute of Architects and represented the Institute in the International Union of Architects (UIA) Work Program on Architectural Heritage. Ongkowidjaja recent appointments include as a guest lecturer in several prestigious Indonesian universities such as the Institut Teknologi Bandung (ITB), Maranatha Christian University, Ciputra Entrepreneur University and the Catholic University of Parahyangan. He had also been invited as a guest speaker at the Bandung Heritage Society and several Indonesian Institute of Architects: the West Java, Jakarta and North Sumatera Chapters respectively. He is the Charter President of the Lions Club Bandung Go Green.

The founder of the Indonesian Business Centre (IBC) in 2000 and as its current Chairman, he travels and is in touch with officials as well as businessmen in 13 most important Indonesia’s provinces. In 2015, he received an award from the Ambassador of Indonesia to Singapore for his contribution in synergizing business network among Singaporean and Indonesian businessmen. A Singapore Permanent Resident since 1987, Ongkowidjaja was awarded a Long Service Award and a Medal with a certificate signed by Singapore Minister of Trade and Industry (Chan Chun Sing) for his twenty years community service to the Nation. Setyadi had run in four UK marathons and had In September 2017 completed the Portugese Camino Santiago pilgrimage walk from Porto (Portugal) to Santiago in Spain, a distance of over 200 km. He is married to Rachel and has 4 children. He is also the author/editor of six books ranging in subjects from architecture, business, social and cultural respectively.

You can find IBC: Google Playstore IBC CLUB

Magnus has lived in Southeast the last 4,5 years.
Studying at SMU and NUS in Singapore.

In Indonesia he has had several projects including market research and partner search for a Norwegian company, working closely with the Ministry of Health on the first Asia-Pacific Food Forum with Swedish/Norwegian NGO EAT Forum including smaller market research and market intelligence projects.

In 2019 he left his position in Indonesia Norway Business Council to focus completely on setting up NordCham Indonesia (Nordic Chamber of Commerce in Indonesia).

NordCham Indonesia is now a strong Nordic chamber of commerce, sharing a lot of valuable information with and helping members succeed in the challenging Indonesian market.