A one-stop investment service

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