Ask any Indonesian which country has the most highly-regarded economy, and they will most likely answer – Japan. This is according to a survey done by the Pew Research Center. Considering that China is Asia’s biggest economy, it goes to show that, in the eyes of Indonesians, bigger is not always better.
The Pew report entitled, “How Asia-Pacific Publics See Each Other and Their National Leaders” aimed to find out the views of Asia-Pacific countries concerning China, Japan, South Korea, and India –the region’s four biggest economies.
The survey was done using 15,313 face-to-face and telephone interviews. The respondents were 18 years and older, coming from 10 Asia-Pacific nations and the United States. These people were asked to rate, on a scale of zero to 100 percent, the four big Asian economies. Zero means least favorable and 100 is equal to most favorable.
For Indonesians, 71 percent held favorable views of Japan, followed by China with 63, India with 51 and lastly, South Korea 42.
Japan scored the highest regard of all countries surveyed across Asia by a wide margin.
The third-largest foreign direct investment contributor to Indonesia is Japan. This is according to Indonesia’s Investment Coordinating Board (BKPM). China ranks tenth though it’s Indonesia’s biggest trading partner, while India ranks 23rd.
