UBS Indonesia Conference 2018: Innovation in today's digital economy

Jakarta, 5 March 2018 – UBS hosted its annual Indonesia Conference in Jakarta on 5 – 7 March 2018 bringing together over 200 international institutional investors, regulators and top Indonesian listed corporates. This flagship investment conference attracted influential guest speakers such as Luhut Panjaitan, Coordinating Minister, Maritime Affairs of Indonesia; Rudiantara, Minister of Communication and Information Technology, Republic of Indonesia; and Adriyanto, Director for Macroeconomic Policies, Fiscal Policy Office, Ministry of Finance.

Joshua Tanja, Country Head of UBS Indonesia commented: “We are delighted to hold this landmark conference for the eleventh year and are proud to see it grow from strength to strength over the years. As a global bank, we provide our clients access to some of the world's brightest minds at our forum, offering like-minded corporates and investors the opportunity to interact and exchange ideas.”

He added: “This year's investment conference is timely as we highlighted our latest Indonesia equities and macro outlook for the rest of 2018, in view of recent global market volatility. With the rise of innovation in an increasingly digital economy, the conference also examined how Indonesian businesses can benefit from technology. We are confident that investors would find the long term investment themes relevant in today's rapidly evolving economic landscape."

The conference drew over 55 top Indonesian corporates and more than 160 institutional investors across the globe, reflecting strong international interest in Indonesia's economy. Since 2007, this landmark conference has been one of the most highly anticipated and prestigious forums for investors and corporate managers to exchange insights on investment trends and developments in Indonesia.

With the theme "Innovation in today's digital economy”, the conference had different panel discussions including topics on technology as an enabler for today's business; the impact of monetary policy on businesses and Indonesia's mass consumption recovery story.

One of the latest trends that UBS has witnessed in Indonesia is the rise in the number of internet start-ups. Many Indonesian companies are increasingly adopting technology in their daily operations. Agung Prabowo, Head of Corporate Clients Solutions, UBS Indonesia added, "With the rapid rise of the internet economy in Indonesia, UBS has been active in fund raising for the new technology companies as well. We recently helped raise financing for one of the leading regional ride-hailing platforms and one of the leading regional online travel agencies. We hope that today's conference would allow like-minded corporates to share ideas on how best to navigate the new digital economy for businesses."

Edward Teather, senior ASEAN economist, UBS Investment Bank said, "Our outlook for Indonesia remains positive in 2018. We expect real GDP growth of 5.6% in 2018 and 5.7% in 2019 – at the upper end of official expectations. UBS expects robust investment spending, driven by improved credit growth and favorable commodity prices, to trigger better consumption growth – hitherto a weak spot in Indonesia's growth recovery. Because of spare capacity in the economy after a few years of softer growth, we expect inflation pressures to be limited in 2018. Low inflation, a benign current account deficit and a weak USD should set the stage for a recovery in the IDR exchange rate against the USD."

UBS in Indonesia

UBS has had a long history in Indonesia, having first advised the Government of Indonesia in 1974. In 1996, it became a full licensed broker regulated by Otoritas Jasa Keuangan (OJK) and the Indonesia Stock Exchange with full underwriting and international / domestic broking capabilities. It has about 20 employees in Indonesia, providing complete investment services in the areas of corporate finance, research, sales, trading and settlement.

UBS is a leading equity house in Indonesia as one of the top three brokers in Indonesia in terms of trading value market share in IDX in the past five years. UBS has also been one of the highly-ranked brokers of Indonesian equities since 2001 according to external surveys. UBS has been collaborating with top foreign and local institutional clients. UBS has made a significant contribution in encouraging greater foreign direct investment and attracting tier-1 international investors to Indonesia.

UBS ranks amongst the top-five leading investment banks in Indonesia and has shaped some of the most successful landmark transactions in the last decade. We have been a leading equity capital markets house in Indonesia for more than 10 years. Since 2013, we have been the number 1 bookrunner across IPOs, re-IPOs and equity-linked offerings. In the debt capital markets, UBS is the leading bookrunner for Indonesian corporates for 2016 and 2017 period taking up a leading role in majority of the transactions. UBS is also a trusted M&A advisor for multi-national corporates seeking for cross-border M&A opportunities.

About UBS

UBS provides financial advice and solutions to wealthy, institutional and corporate clients worldwide, as well as private clients in Switzerland. UBS' strategy is centered on our leading global wealth management business and our premier universal bank in Switzerland, enhanced by Asset Management and the Investment Bank. The bank focuses on businesses that have a strong competitive position in their targeted markets, are capital efficient, and have an attractive long-term structural growth or profitability outlook.

UBS is present in all major financial centers worldwide. It has offices in 52 countries, with about 34% of its employees working in the Americas, 34% in Switzerland, 18% in the rest of Europe, the Middle East and Africa and 14% in Asia Pacific. UBS Group AG employs approximately 61,000 people around the world. Its shares are listed on the SIX Swiss Exchange and the New York Stock Exchange (NYSE).