Gita Wirjawan, the new head of the Investment Coordinating Board, is optimistic about the country\u2019s future as an investment destination.<\/p>\n
He said foreign investors remained \u201cbullish\u201d on the country, despite long-term poor competitiveness ratings by international agencies. Gita said part of his strategy to attract investors was assuring them about Indonesia\u2019s \u201cdirectionality,\u201d which he explained as the direction where the country is headed in the future.<\/p>\n
\u201cInvestors take risks,\u201d said Gita, the former Indonesia country chief for US firm JPMorgan Chase.<\/p>\n
\u201cThere are no investors who don\u2019t take risks. Not taking risks is often more of a problem for them. As long as a particular investor is educated about the trajectory of Indonesia, where it is going to be in the next 24 to 36 months, then he or she will take a view as to whether he or she will bet a dollar on Indonesia.\u201d<\/p>\n
The International Finance Corporation, the investment arm of the World Bank, still ranks Indonesia at No. 122 in its \u201cEase of Doing Business\u201d survey - worse than Rwanda - out of 178 countries surveyed annually.<\/p>\n
Moody\u2019s Investors Service still rates Indonesia\u2019s sovereign bonds at Ba2, two levels below investment grade, which generally indicates that the economy is less competitive than its rivals.<\/p>\n
Gita said these ratings \u201capply to many things, not just investment in portfolios but more importantly, real sector investment.\u201d<\/p>\n
As one of his top priorities, Gita said he would continue his predecessor\u2019s idea of creating a one-stop licensing centre for businesses, as well as link important government agencies with the Investment Coordinating Board, also known as the BKPM, to process different licenses for investors.<\/p>\n
He said he would lobby for revisions on the much-maligned \u201cnegative investment list,\u201d which has a confusing array of limits on foreign investment in hundreds of investment categories.<\/p>\n
In any case, Gita remains confident about foreign investors\u2019 appetite for investing in Indonesia.<\/p>\n
\u201cI spent the last week and a half traveling abroad attending international meetings, and the bullishness in respect to Indonesia is quite real. It\u2019s up to us to take advantage of this. It\u2019s make or break time,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n
Clifford D. Rees, chairman of the European Chamber of Commerce in Indonesia, told the Jakarta Globe that while he supported Gita\u2019s plans, he was skeptical about the implementation of the one-stop licensing centre plan.<\/p>\n
\u201cI think a single-stop policy is a fantastic idea because it\u2019s more efficient, but I\u2019m afraid it will be difficult to implement because it will be hard to relieve some ministries of their authority and give it to the BKPM,\u201d he said.<\/p>", "url": "https:\/\/jawawa.id\/newsitem\/investors-ready-to-bet-on-directionality-1259199958", "image": "" }, "sponsor": "Okusi Associates", "sponsor_url": "https:\/\/okusiassociates.com" }