The economical development of Sulawesi is heterogenous among provinces. The only common aspect is that the major portion of natural resources and industrial / agricultural products is directly exported to Java.

The traditional handicraft of Sulawesi is silk weaving. Silk sarongs of Sulawesi carry a special archetype and are very popular even in Bali and Java.

The province of South Sulawesi is well known for Ikat-weaving, a technique that is used all over the world but has been developed to perfection just here. Individual bundles of silk filaments are wrapped with non-stainable material (reserves) and thereby protected from staining. Removal of the reserves reveals the pattern of stained and unstained sections of the cloth.

The industry of Southeast Sulawesi is still largely undeveloped. Teak wood and ironwood plantations supply the material for the local wood carvers. The peduncles of the rattan palm plants are a precious resource for the furniture industry worldwide.

A promising project is the Kendari Craftsmenship Operation, where handicrafts and small works of art are manufactured and sold in a central facility in Kendari. For example, orchid stems are used for plaiting. Objects made from these materials are amongst the most exquisite pieces created by the art of plaiting, and therefore are very rare and expensive.

In restricted areas, local asphalt and nickle mines are exploited. Asphalt is directly shipped from Pasar Wajo (Buton island). Also, the annual production of 800.000 tons of nickle from the Pomalaa mines (south of Kolaka) is exported.

True industrialization has not (yet) taken place in Sulawesi. Thus, there is a lack of developed jobs. Most Indonesians are peasants and earn some additional money with mini jobs, primarily in the services sector. These jobs are frequently overcrowded and even hard work is paid very low. As a consequence, labour time is not a factor and everyone is integrated into social-economic life.

The central guideline of labor politics: A lot of people work for little money. The average standard of life and prices are therefore low. But since almost all native Sulawesians are self-supporters and back each other stronlgy within their families, you hardly find misery and deracination.

Kendari, the province capital of Southeast Sulawesi, is best reached by airplane. There are several flights daily from the capital of Sulawesi, Ujung Pandang (Makassar), to Kendari. In addition, there are flight routes from Jakarta and Denpasar (Bali) via Ujung Pandang with daily service to Kendari. Flight time is approximately one hour. These connections are served by Lion Air and Merpati Nusantara Airlines.

If you bring some time and prefere the adventure, you can reach Kendari from Ujung Pandang by minibus to Watampone (about 4 h), then take the passenger ferry to Kolaka (8 h) and from there again the minibus (4 h).

From Ujung Pandang there are also PELNI boats running to Bau-Bau (Buton Island) and occasionally to Kendari. Boats are the major means of transportation to reach all the smaller and larger islands of the archilepago. The main islands Wawonii, Buton and Muna are reached from mainland Southeast Sulawesi (Kendari) by daily passenger speedboats. If you want to reach a remote island there is also the possibility to charter a speedboat.

Shorter ground distances are covered by minibusses (Pete Pete), longer distances with traveling buses, sometimes with modern standards.

Kendari is also a central starting point for trips to the spice islands (Moluccas), the Tukangbesi Islands (Wakatobi National Parc) as well as to the islands located to the north (Banggai) and south (Buton, Muna, Kabaena).