A one-stop investment service

On almost every occasion where businesspeople meet, the problem of levies invariably becomes a major subject for discussion. Not infrequently, in conversations with government officials, too, businesspeople complain about the sluggish manner in which officials handle their permit applications.

Those vocal complaints have, of late, apparently awakened the government to the situation. This is evident from the statement given by State Minister of Investment/Chairman of the Investment Planning Board Sanyoto Sastrowardoyo that the government is ready to revive the one-stop service for the issuance of investment permits.

There are at least three reasons to justify this renewed policy that deserve our scrutiny. First, investment services in the provinces do not encourage the actual realization of investments approved. This is due to the sluggish processing of investment permits because too many government agencies are involved in the process.

Second, the consequences of this sluggishness are reflected in the low total value of realized investments -- and this while Indonesia needs around Rp 815 trillion in investments during this sixth Five-Year Development Period.

Third, this slow processing of investment permit applications is bound to damage Indonesia's standing in the eyes of foreign investors.

When we take a look at the situation we will see that the slowing down of the investment realizations lately is primarily due to the excessive complexity of the bureaucracy and the many agencies that are involved in the issuance of permits.

The revival of the one-roof service will hopefully lead to an increased efficiency by eliminating the sources of the high-cost economy that can be found in almost all the government agencies that are authorized to issue permits.

-- Bisnis Indonesia, Jakarta