City promises better investment climate next year<\/p>\n
Damar Harsanto, The Jakarta Post, Jakarta<\/p>\n
In an effort to attract more investment to the city, the
\nadministration plans to revoke bylaws hindering development and
\ncreate a one-stop-shop investor service, Deputy Governor Fauzi
\nBowo says.<\/p>\n
The moves were highlighted after a World Bank study released
\non Sunday put the nation at the bottom of an international list,
\nranking its business climate as one of the worst in the world.<\/p>\n
\"We are planning to remove several bylaws which impede
\ninvestment,\" Fauzi said on Monday after a meeting with the City
\nCouncil to discuss the 2005 city development plan.<\/p>\n
He did not specify the bylaws. The administration earlier
\nannounced it was preparing a new bylaw to provide a one-stop
\nservice for investors operating in the capital in an effort to
\ncut down on bureaucratic red tape.<\/p>\n
\"We must realize that we can't create job opportunities by
\njust relying on the city's potential,\" Fauzi said.<\/p>\n
Any increase in investment would likely generate job
\nopportunities for the 560,000 people estimated to be unemployed
\nin the city.<\/p>\n
Fauzi said the administration planned to provide more funds to
\nsmall- and medium-scale enterprises in the city. \"We will also
\nestablish a non-lending micro institution to help small- and
\nmedium-scale enterprises obtain loans from banks.\"<\/p>\n
The administration would prioritize investment in the service
\nsector in line with a plan to make Jakarta \"a service city\", he
\nsaid.<\/p>\n
With relatively few natural resources, the service sector
\nprovides a large contribution to the administration's revenue.<\/p>\n
Despite the bleak outlook for Indonesia suggested in the World
\nBank report, which ranks Indonesia in the bottom quartile of 145
\nnations in terms of the ease of doing business, Jakarta had
\nrecorded promising growth in foreign investment during the past
\nthree years, the administration said.<\/p>\n
This year, the administration has approved a total of
\nUS$864.50 million in foreign direct investment (FDI) in 288
\nprojects.<\/p>\n
The figure is an improvement on the level reached in 2001,
\nwhen FDI was measured at $609 million, however figures for 2002
\nand last year were not available.<\/p>\n
The 10 biggest investing countries in Jakarta are Japan,
\nSingapore, Hong Kong, the United States, the Netherlands, the
\nUnited Kingdom, Australia, Germany, South Korea and France.<\/p>",
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"sponsor": "Okusi Associates",
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