BKPM Chief Says European Union Helps Indonesia Avoid Middle-Income Trap

The head of the Investment Coordinating Board (BKPM), Thomas Lembong, has expressed appreciation for the bilateral relationship between the European Union and Indonesia. According to him, the contribution of European businesses and the EU has helped build economic growth in Indonesia.

One of these contributions is in helping Indonesia avoid the middle-income trap. “This is clearly evident from the active role of European business players who have taken part in providing input on the deregulation package, thereby supporting the Indonesian government’s efforts to escape the middle income trap,” he said at the BKPM building in South Jakarta on Thursday (8/2).

Thomas also explained that, to date, the government has continued its efforts to accelerate the implementation of the deregulation package. This includes, he said, receiving input from the business community on policies across various sectors.

“The government of President Jokowi will continue to take various deregulation steps to make things easier for the business world. The various economic reform programmes carried out over the past three years have shown results and have been recognised by a number of international institutions and rating agencies,” he explained.

In helping to accelerate and improve Indonesia’s economic and investment climate, he called for human resource development to become a vehicle for collaboration between the government and businesses. This is because, in his view, business players have an important role in developing human resources in Indonesia.

Finally, BKPM is optimistic that the 2018 investment realisation target of Rp 765 trillion can be achieved if deregulation proceeds well.