Analysis: Indonesia's ports – getting past the politics, corruption and wild ambition

On the surface, this week’s announcement that DP World will invest $7.5bn into Indonesian container ports, in partnership with the Indonesia Investment Authority (INA), is welcome in an archipelago nation beset by high logistics costs.

Scratch a little deeper, however, and it highlights a complex web of Jakartian polititicking, vested interests and corruption that has held back Indonesia’s much-needed infrastructure development.

The story begins with populist president Joko Widodo’s election in 2014. Also known as Jakowi, the ex-furniture exporter saw the huge potential ...