Anton Hermansyah – Indonesian citizens have more faith in business than the government, in terms of solving prolonged social issues such as poverty and unemployment this year, an Edelman Trust Barometer 2016 survey has indicated.

The results of the survey were due to people becoming more realistic as euphoria for President Joko "Jokowi" Widodo's administration had faded after one year, Edelman Indonesia CEO Raymond Siva said.

"After one year, it's the normalization period during which people's trust declines, returns to normal. This also happened in India with the rise in optimism when PM Narendra Modi was elected, but it went back to normal afterward," he said in Jakarta on Monday.

According to the survey, Indonesians were very concerned about poverty reduction, expecting businesses to provide jobs, reduce unemployment and increase welfare in society.

Indonesian citizens, Siva continued, tended to perceive business value not in terms of growth and profit, but in terms of integrity; how businesses treated their employees and how much they were concerned about social and environmental issues.

"Even corporate social responsibility [CSR] is no longer significant. Indonesians see that as an excuse for corporations to do things that negatively affect society or nature," Edelman South East Asia and Australia CEO Iain Twine said.

The Trust Barometer survey is conducted in 28 countries across the region, involving respondents 18 years or older. Each country has a total 1,150 respondents. (ags)

Source: http://www.thejakartapost.com/news/2016/02/02/indonesians-trust-business-more-government-survey.html