Apindo Reveals 3 Keys to Boost Investment Realisation in Industrial Estates
JAKARTA — The government has been urged to move quickly so that the target for investment realisation in industrial estates can be achieved. The Indonesian Employers’ Association (Apindo) has identified at least three policy priorities that could be pursued.
Apindo Chairperson Shinta Widjaja Kamdani said regulatory certainty, spatial planning, and land status are the first priority that must be addressed. According to her, investors must obtain clarity from the outset regarding land use suitability, environmental permits, building permits, utilities, and sectoral requirements.
This process needs to be supported by a clear service level agreement (SLA) so that investors know the time limits for completing each stage as well as mechanisms for resolving obstacles.
“Time certainty is crucial because permitting delays can increase financing costs, postpone machinery procurement, and disrupt companies’ global production schedules,” Shinta told Bisnis, quoted on Thursday (16 July 2026).
The second priority, according to Apindo, is that the government needs to maintain consistency of fiscal incentives, such as tax holidays, tax allowances, and customs facilities. These incentives, it argued, must be easy to utilise and directed towards investments that bring technology transfer, strengthen domestic supply chains, boost exports, and create quality jobs.
In addition, the operational readiness of industrial estates is important. According to her, industrial estates must be supported by reliable industrial electricity, gas, and water supplies, waste management systems, digital connectivity, and competitively priced logistics access.
“Workforce readiness through vocational education and link-and-match programmes also needs to be tailored to the needs of the sectors that will come in,” Shinta added.
The next policy priority is that every potential investment project needs to be accompanied by a single coordination team or account manager, from the exploratory stage until the factory begins operations.
“The measure of success in investment promotion is not merely the number of meetings or MoUs, but how many projects genuinely reach financial closing, begin construction, and produce sustainably,” Shinta asserted.
She added that investment entering Indonesia must also be measured by its quality, not just its nominal value. According to her, investment needs to deliver real impact through job creation, technology transfer, strengthening of domestic supply chains, increased exports, and deepening of the national industrial structure.
Separately, Apindo believes Indonesia still holds competitiveness as a manufacturing base. In 2024, Indonesia’s Manufacturing Value Added (MVA) reached US$265.07 billion, placing Indonesia 12th in the world and fifth in Asia after China, Japan, South Korea, and India.
Nevertheless, Indonesia’s manufacturing growth rate is still considered to lag behind several competitor countries. Between 2020 and 2024, Indonesia’s MVA grew by around 16.1%, lower than India at 29.2% and Vietnam at 46.3%.
According to Shinta, this situation shows that competitor countries are moving more aggressively to strengthen their manufacturing ecosystems through industrial cluster development, expanded market access via free trade agreements (FTAs), regulatory certainty, and improved services for investors.
“In other words, Indonesia has significant capital, but this advantage must continue to be strengthened through policy certainty, consistent and impactful incentives, fast permitting, logistics efficiency, vocational strengthening, and more,” she said.