Don’t Hesitate to Invest in Indonesia, President Jokowi Says

Coordinating Minister for Maritime Affairs Luhut Binsar Pandjaitan leads a meeting with Japanese businessmen during an Indonesia Round Table Business Meeting, in Osaka, Japan, Thursday (27/6. (Photo by: Anggun/PR)

The Indonesian Government is committed to improving the nation’s business climate for foreign investors, Coordinating Minister for Maritime Affairs Luhut Binsar Pandjaitan has said during an Indonesia Round Table Business Meeting in Osaka, Japan, Thursday (27/6).

In his remarks, Luhut who represented President Joko “Jokowi” Widodo said that Indonesian economy has shown robust growth over the past five years with the annual percentage growth rate at 5 percent. In addition, he added, Indonesian Law and Legal Certainty has become the President’s concern since it is very important for foreign investors.

The meeting was attended by 21 Japanese business companies, among others, The Japan External Trade Organization (JETRO), Daihatsu Motor Company Ltd, Honda Motor Company Ltd, Marubeni Coorporation, Mitsubishi UFJ Financial Group, Mitsui & Co. Ltd., Nippon Steel, Sumitomo Corporation, and Toyota Tsuho Corporation.

He also said that Japan is consistent in the Japan-Indonesia economic partnership so the Government has no hesitation in conducting economic cooperation between Japanese businessmen and Indonesia.

“The ease of doing business in Indonesia will surely be better than what it used to be,” Luhut said.

Luhut went on to say that the Government continues to cut bureaucratic red tape, particularly regarding issuance of permits so investors will not be hampered by investment processes.

In the meantime, Indonesian Minister of Finance Sri Mulyani Indrawati said that the meeting is expected to encourage Japanese businessmen to boost their investment in the country as the market is very large and strategic to become a hub for other countries.

“In order to boost investment climate, the Government continues to re-regulate regulations regarding investment,” Sri said, adding that Ministry of Finance has continued to issue regulations in taxation.

“The first facility is tax holiday regulations to cover 18 business sectors, such as petrochemical or electronic,” she said.

According to Sri, tax holidays and tax allowances procedure will be simple and easy to process. To date, there are 289 trillion new investments. The Government also provides incentives for Bonded Zones or Industrial Zones.

“The Government also sees that many companies operate primarily in financial inclusion sector,” she said, adding that hopefully digital banking will enter the country’s outermost, least developed, and frontier regions.

On that occasion, she also revealed that Regulation of Minister of Finance  on property has also been issued.

Meanwhile, Minister of Industry Airlangga Hartarto said that raw materials are key to the industry’s operationalization.

“The development of the Merak port is a necessity for industrial development,” Airlangga said.

One-on-One Meeting between the Indonesian Government and six Japanese companies is also held after the roundtable business meeting. (EN/GUN/ES)

Translated by: Syarifah Aisyah
Edited by: Muhardi/M. Ersan Pamungkas