JAKARTA has been ranked first among 35 cities surveyed for the ‘Emerging Cities Outlook 2014’, which is part of the 2014 edition of the Global Cities Index by [… a] management consulting firm […].

While the Global Cities Index provides a holistic look at what differentiates various cities in generating, attracting and retaining global capital, people and ideas, the ECO measures the likelihood that a city will improve its global standing over the next 10 to 20 years. So if Jakarta is at the top of the ECO category, it means the city has all the potential to attract more global capitals and business.

The survey says that in 2014, Jakarta showed the greatest improvement in information exchange and provided an increasingly conducive setting for doing business, anchored by a high GDP growth rate. Human capital, especially in the healthcare evolution metric, presents a major opportunity for Jakarta to exploit.

We must welcome Jakarta’s achievement and congratulate Governor Joko Widodo and Deputy Governor Basuki Tjahaja Purnama for their successful leadership. But we must also agree that, to capitalise on this potential, Jakarta must provide greater ease of doing business, boost transparency and be more open to the new global business environment.

We agree that Jakarta must continue to fix itself. We have seen traffic worsening and laws being flouted with increasing abandon. As a result, chaos has become the order of the day, while thugs and militant groups take the law into their own hands and roam the streets freely. It is only a matter of time before these problems ruin the favourable business climate here. It is time for Jakarta residents to respect the law, and the authorities to enforce it properly. — (April 13)