Jack Brown from Invest Islands or the climb of a real estate investor: With a deep-rooted passion for sustainable development, nothing brings Jack more satisfaction than helping investors realise their dreams of owning a slice of paradise and ensuring they exit with an excellent return. Jack is particularly proud of the Invest Islands Foundation who work hard to improve the quality of life of the local communities in Lombok including building a school and building a new recycling centre for waste collected from the ocean.
“Inspired by Kevin’s vision, I saw an incredible opportunity to build something special with Invest Islands”, Jack says, “Together with our motivated, educated and passionate team, we believe Indonesia is an incredibly exciting market for the right kind of responsible and respectful development.” The role of Jack Brown in Invest Islands is a truly valuable one. Jack is as diligent with the documentation as he is passionate about championing sustainable development in Indonesia, which he sees as Asia’s most profitable and worthwhile investment opportunity. Working out of the office in Hong Kong, he happily makes regular trips to Lombok to development projects and sites like the plantation field at the foot of Mount Rinjani, which supplies fresh fruits and vegetables to the company’s resort in Torok Bay and other developments.
Invest Islands on investment opportunities in Indonesia : Indonesia’s economy is on the rise, helping the country take its rightful position as a major destination for foreign direct investment (FDI). Indonesia is entering a “sweet spot” as a convergence of its young, working population with that of relatively stable inflation and sustained economic growth which in turn is fuelling overall consumer spending. Finally, the country’s resilience during the global financial crisis illustrates the merits of its immense population and economic self-reliance, demonstrating how these factors buck the trend of most other G20 economies.
Indonesia is the fourth most populated country in the world and the largest economy in Southeast Asia with a 2014 nominal GDP of $888.6 billion. With strong economic growth and a young population, many economists have argued that it should be added to the so-called BRIC economies as an up-and-coming emerging market. Those looking to invest in Indonesia should start with the Jakarta Composite Index (JCI). While the rest of the world was in a recession between 2009 and 2012, the country’s primary equity index jumped from a low of around 1140 to a high of around 4100. And it was one of the only emerging markets in the world to come out of 2011 with any real economic growth.
“Operating across the Asia Pacific region, Invest Islands is a land brokerage company based in Lombok Indonesia, with strategic offices in Hong Kong under Asian Island Group. I currently oversee all of the aspects of the Asian Island Group. I also travel to the development sites and visit the Invest Islands Foundation Charity projects. Additionally, I frequently travel to the plantation field at the foot of Mount Rinjani that supplies fresh fruits and vegetables to the Invest Islands Resort in Torok Bay.”
This intention is a good first step, however weak the implementation and enforcement may be. Nevertheless, the government support for these goals is there. To make funds available for action the government has put in place BUMDes (village financing companies); a blended finance policy and has successfully raised USD 2 billion via a “Green Sukuk” (a shariah government green bond). Much of these funds have been allocated for returns-generating SDG-relevant investments. More such Green bonds are likely to follow, like the Green Corporate bond issued by OCBC-NISP with the IFC. On another front, closing the gender gap, although by no means complete, has resulted in marginally more women being financially included (banking services) than men in Indonesia. Jokowi’s first Cabinet has a record 9 women ministers. Women do occupy positions of power, Megawati Soekarnoputri, Soekarno’s daughter, being the iconic example.
Going about his work with an infectious smile, Jack fills rare moments of downtime exploring his interest in art as well as travelling to Barcelona, where he invested in property in 2016, and back to Scotland to see friends and family. Read even more details at Invest Islands.