Jakarta. The Financial Services Authority or OJK recently announced that the Indonesian capital market wrapped up 2022 on a high note, doing much better than other markets such as Europe and other ASEAN economies.

OJK chairman Mahendra Siregar cited media reports that the European stock market has just had a brutal year marked by the Russia-Ukraine. European stocks also logged their worst annual performance since 2018. This struck a huge contrast to what is happening in Indonesia.

“We should be grateful. Amid the uncertainty in Europe and globally, Indonesia’s economy and capital market were resilient. and recorded a very positive performance in 2022. We are even doing the best in ASEAN and Asia in general,” Mahendra said when kicking off the country’s first trading day of 2023 on Monday.

According to Mahendra, the IDX Composite —an index encompassing all stocks listed on the Indonesian exchange— climbed 4 percent in 2022, compared to the previous year. The exchange posted 1.31 million transactions daily — the largest in ASEAN. 

The Indonesian Stock Exchange last year saw its market cap rising 15 percent to $600 billion or equivalent to 50 percent of the national gross domestic product (GDP). There were also 59 initial public offers (IPO) in 2022, among others, tech giant GoTo and travel booking platform Blibli. 

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The number of investors trading at the Indonesian capital market topped 10.3 million in 2022, marking a tenfold increase from the 2017 figures. Domestic investors account for 55 percent of the total investors in Indonesia. OJK revealed 58.7 percent of the total investors in Indonesia were millennials and Gen Z.

"Going forward, we have to prioritize improving our integrity, accountability, and credibility. By doing so, we will be able to 'fill the empty glass' because 10.3 million investors is merely 4 percent of our population. [...] We are also still falling behind other ASEAN economies, whose market cap has topped a hundred percent [of their GDP],” Mahendra said.

For reference, the World Bank data showed that Indonesia was home to about 273.7 million people as of 2021.

"There is no such thing as 'wait and see' when it comes to investing in Indonesia. It is all about investment, investment, and investment," Mahendra said.