JAKARTA, Feb. 25 (UPI) -- Indonesia's new environmental law could result in a 40 percent drop in the country's oil and gas production. The law, passed last year, requires businesses to secure environmental permits before launching their operations. Failure to do so would result in the termination of the business license for a given concession or working area.

Investment Coordinating Board chairman Gita Wirjawan revealed here on Thursday that the government would push ahead with its plan to open the telecommunications towers to foreign investment to help the telecommunications industry grow faster to keep up with soaring demand. The telecommunications industry needs $7 billion to $8 billion per year in infrastructure investment, including in building towers.

Indonesia is inviting more foreign investment into the healthcare and education sectors in a bid to improve services as well as the quality of Indonesian human resources, according to Investment Coordinating Board chairman Gita Wirjawan. Speaking before U.S. businesspeople in Washington D.C. on Wednesday, Gita revealed that the current negative list of investment limited foreign hospitals in three cities, i.e. Jakarta, Surabaya in East Java and Medan in North Sumatra.