News about the “reciprocal trade” agreement between Indonesia and the United States of America has not been well received by the general public. Negative comments can be seen everywhere on the internet with people showing concerns that their personal data may now be at risk, as well as poking fun at Prabowo Subianto’s favorite narrative regarding “foreign power” which he often mentioned in his speech.

We now have a better understanding about the economy as more companies listed on the Indonesia Stock Exchange (IDX) have issued financial statements for the first half of 2025. From their reports, we learned about workforce situation, purchasing power of the society, domestic investments, and implication of changes in coal market. 

Shares of state bank BNI (BBNI) ended lower by 3.1% to Rp4,090 on Friday (Jul 25) as investors responded negatively the company’s first half financial performance. The bank, fourth largest in Indonesia by total assets, booked net profit of Rp10.1 trillion in the period, declined by 5.6% from the first half of 2024.

Shares of Pradiksi Gunatama (PGUN), an oil palm producer controlled by the family of Haji Isam, ended substantially higher by 24.5% to Rp915 last Friday (Jul 25). Investors might have anticipated strong financial performance of the company in the first half of 2025.

Shares of state steel manufacturer PT Krakatau Steel Tbk (KRAS) gained 6.7% to Rp320 on Friday (Jul 25). That means the stock has gained more than 100% since the second week of June despite poor bottom line.

In response to growing public scrutiny, Minister of Communication and Digital Affairs Meutya Hafid assured that the Indonesia-U.S. digital agreement only permits cross-border data transfers under narrow conditions. According to her, the deal is “limited, legal, and safe.”

As the government pursues deeper economic ties with the United States, particularly through a series of proposed digital trade concessions and reciprocal tariff agreements, the public must ask: are we willing to rewrite our national laws—and sacrifice our digital sovereignty—in exchange for short-term trade gains?

Indonesia and China have recently signed a strategic partnership agreement focusing on blue carbon research during Hainan Blue Carbon Forum 2025, highlighting a growing bilateral commitment to marine and coastal ecosystem conservation. The deal was signed between the Hainan International Blue Carbon Research Center (HiBC) and Indonesia’s Research Center for Oceanography under the National Research and Innovation Agency (BRIN).

So, Indonesia’s sixth president Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono (SBY) has returned home after one week of medical treatment at Gatot Soebroto hospital in Jakarta. While he was at the hospital, Prabowo government, where SBY’s Democrat Party is key member of the ruling coalition, banned Gunawan Yusuf and Purwanti Lee from overseas travel.

The most interesting case implicating Gunawan Yusuf is his decades of dispute with Salim Group, former owner of sugar plantation and factories currently under Gunawan’s Sugar Group of Companies (SGC). The assets are only among few that Salim Group failed to recover from Indonesian Bank Restructuring Agency (IBRA) to settle debts related to restructuring of Bank Central Asia (BCA).