AIYA Links: 18 October

AIYA is at the Conference of Australian and Indonesian Youth (CAUSINDY) in Canberra, where a terrific exchange of ideas amongst speakers and delegates is underway (including between Richard Woolcott AC and Gede, the Indonesian Embassy staffer with a talent for Balinese dance). Keep up with the conversation on Twitter at #causindy

In the news

• Reuters reports on the Indonesian economy this week: investors say they are nervous about growing trade union pressure for wage increases, and Indonesia seeks to reinvigorate its manufacturing sector.
• Economic engagement we rarely hear about in national media: WA farmers participated in a trade mission to Indonesia last week, reports Farm Weekly. 
• Ben Bland from the FT (@benjaminbland) profiles one of Indonesia’s most prominent business families, the Riadys.
• Also in the FT: foreign lawyers in Indonesia may soon have to take an ethics test in Bahasa Indonesia, seen as a blatantly protectionist measure.
• Sara Schonhardt (@saraschonhardt) reports for the New York Times on the terrible environmental cost of deforestation in Aceh.
  
• Also in the NYT: some observers have jitters about the state of Indonesia’s real estate market.
• A consortium of Indonesian tycoons led by billionaire Erick Thorir has bought out the Italian soccer team Inter Milan.
• Michael Bachelard (@mbachelard) says that despite signals of increased openness, West Papua is still off-limits to foreign journalists.
• ANU PhD candidate Dominic Berger has a terrific story at Inside Indonesia about Indonesia’s tiny but passionate (and occasionally violent) anarchist groups.
• The Lowy Institute’s Dave McRae (@_DaveMcRae_) and The Australian’s foreign editor Greg Sheridan discussed the government’s ‘More Jakarta, Less Geneva’ strategy at the Wheeler Centre this week. You can listen to the audio of the event here.

Events

• The Conference of Australian and Indonesian Youth (CAUSINDY) is underway in Canberra! (Take a look at the fantastic delegates visiting Mount Ainslie yesterday).
• Get updates from inside the conference on twitter by following @causindy or the hasthtag #causindy.
• The Australian Strategic Policy Institute (ASPI) is advertising Analyst and Senior Analyst positions (based in Canberra), and is seeking applicants to its prestigious Research Internship Program. More details at the AIYA Job Board.