'EVERYTHING WAS TOTALLY DESTROYED' (int'l edition) Avi Dwipayana knows firsthand Indonesia's economic devastation. After Jakarta's recent riots, the president and director of Trimegah Securities visited a branch office in the Chinese section of town and found windows smashed, computers stolen, and air conditioners pushed out the windows. Even the employee time clock was gone. ''Everything,'' he says, ''was totally destroyed.'' Destroyed. That's the state of much of Indonesian business after the tumult that forced President Suharto to announce he would soon step down. Rebuilding the economy could take years, analysts say, and nothing will really start until a successor is chosen and the stability of the new regime is established. The roots of Indonesia's prosperity ran shallow, so even the brief spate of violence has done much damage. Talented ethnic Chinese business leaders have fled the country, taking with them billions of dollars in precious capital and knowhow. Swaths of small and large businesses alike are near collapse for lack of capital and because of a currency growing worthless. Even hardy multinationals such as Coca-Cola Co. and Mattel Inc. have run for cover, recalling expatriate managers, while others such as General Motors Corp. have shut down operations altogether. Some say the recent looting that took place across Jakarta was instigated by professionals in the military, who were instructed to ransack key businesses in an attempt to foment unrest and allow Suharto to call for martial law. The damage inflicted is huge, with estimates of $1 billion. Take Lippo Karawaci, a massive suburb built for Indonesia's emerging middle class. It was attacked by several truckloads of rioters. They systematically looted and burned the 2.5 million-square-foot Lippo Supermall to the ground despite pleas from James Riady, the deputy chairman of the group, not to destroy it. NOT SPARED. Because of their close ties with the Suharto family and with the military, Chinese-Indonesian elite like Riady form the mainstay of corporate Indonesia. For months, they were spared any violence while smaller Chinese shopkeepers faced attack. Now, with many of the Chinese departing, the basic businesses that kept the economy humming for three decades are in jeopardy. Meanwhile, a number of Suharto holdings were hit by throngs protesting his family's wealth and greed. And multinationals with close ties to the family such as Korean carmakers Hyundai Motor Co. and Kia Motors Corp. had facilities ransacked. Even after the riots, the Indonesian economy faces many grim months. Hyperinflation and a banking crisis loom after the meltdown of the rupiah. And international aid organizations and multinationals may be too shell-shocked to go back anytime soon. ''To rebuild the economy, there has to be confidence on the part of the workers, businesspeople, and policymakers,'' says Djisman Simanjuntak, executive director of Prasetiya Mulya business management school in Jakarta. And confidence is something that remains in short supply. By Michael Shari in Jakarta Return to main story

Updated May 21, 1998 by bwwebmaster
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