Could dual citizenship stop Indonesia’s brain drain?

Randy Mulyanto is a freelance journalist based in Jakarta.

Welcome back to Asia-Pacific, Randy.

Thank you for having me, Mariko.

So, Randy, what exactly is the Indonesian government considering allowing here?

So it started when the Indonesian president, you know, President Prabowo Supianto delivered a speech to the parliament a few days before Indonesia's Independence Day last month.

You know, he basically proposed this idea of having a limited dual citizenship opportunity for Indonesians who are seen as having exceptional abilities and who could basically contribute to the country.

So do we know who exactly are seen as this exceptional talent? Who would be eligible and roughly how many people are we talking about here?

Yeah, so the initial announcement actually did not specify the number of people, but this is something that we need to take note of, that this is still a plan.

It's not yet ratified.

It's not yet made into law.

The president acknowledged there are millions of Indonesians in the diaspora, so And this is basically the kind of segment that the president and the government would like to tap into.

And when I said exceptional Indonesians, those with exceptional abilities, those people include scientists, doctors, engineers, professionals, researchers, athletes, and those working in other fields, basically.

Yeah, so it seems like we're still waiting to find out a lot of the details, but did he explain why the government is considering this?

That's right.

So the president and the government actually noted that this plan could help boost Indonesia's competitiveness, as well as basically upskilling the human capital within the country.

Because the president also actually acknowledged that a lot of Indonesians changed their nationality, adopting another passport because of career or a family need.

So this plan is aimed to tap into that.

alleviate, ease those concerns, Mariko.

Is the reason most of those Indonesians choose to leave their home country in the first place, are we talking about the lack of opportunities, jobs? Is that what prompted them to leave in the first place?

Yeah, it is one of the reasons, I would say, because a lot of Indonesians are, you know, the economic situation is not as good.

A lot of Indonesians would be concerned over lacking job opportunities, for instance.

So there are a lot of Indonesians who might comment on social media, you know, mocking the campaign promise, basically, you know, 19 million job opportunities made by then a vice presidential candidate who's now the vice president.

So there are a lot of anxious Indonesians when it comes to job prospects, Mariko.

So that's one of the reasons.

And obviously for many of them, they feel like the...

Randy Mulyanto is a freelance journalist based in Jakarta.

Welcome back to Asia-Pacific, Randy.

Thank you for having me, Mariko.

So, Randy, what exactly is the Indonesian government considering allowing here?

So it started when the Indonesian president, you know, President Prabowo Supianto delivered a speech to the parliament a few days before Indonesia's Independence Day last month.

You know, he basically proposed this idea of having a limited dual citizenship opportunity for Indonesians who are seen as having exceptional abilities and who could basically contribute to the country.

So do we know who exactly are seen as this exceptional talent? Who would be eligible and roughly how many people are we talking about here?

Yeah, so the initial announcement actually did not specify the number of people, but this is something that we need to take note of, that this is still a plan.

It's not yet ratified.

It's not yet made into law.

The president acknowledged there are millions of Indonesians in the diaspora, so And this is basically the kind of segment that the president and the government would like to tap into.

And when I said exceptional Indonesians, those with exceptional abilities, those people include scientists, doctors, engineers, professionals, researchers, athletes, and those working in other fields, basically.

Yeah, so it seems like we're still waiting to find out a lot of the details, but did he explain why the government is considering this?

That's right.

So the president and the government actually noted that this plan could help boost Indonesia's competitiveness, as well as basically upskilling the human capital within the country.

Because the president also actually acknowledged that a lot of Indonesians changed their nationality, adopting another passport because of career or a family need.

So this plan is aimed to tap into that.

alleviate, ease those concerns, Mariko.

Is the reason most of those Indonesians choose to leave their home country in the first place, are we talking about the lack of opportunities, jobs? Is that what prompted them to leave in the first place?

Yeah, it is one of the reasons, I would say, because a lot of Indonesians are, you know, the economic situation is not as good.

A lot of Indonesians would be concerned over lacking job opportunities, for instance.

So there are a lot of Indonesians who might comment on social media, you know, mocking the campaign promise, basically, you know, 19 million job opportunities made by then a vice presidential candidate who's now the vice president.

So there are a lot of anxious Indonesians when it comes to job prospects, Mariko.

So that's one of the reasons.

And obviously for many of them, they feel like the...