Economist: Deregulation Task Force Could Improve Indonesia's Investment Inflow - BCA Securities

The Head of the Macroeconomics and Finance Centre at the Institute for Development of Economics and Finance (Indef), M. Rizal Taufikurahman, believes that the presence of a deregulation task force could improve Indonesia’s investment inflows if it can effectively prune overlapping regulations.

Speaking in Jakarta on Monday, Rizal explained that Indonesia’s investment challenges within the context of ASEAN competition involve not only fiscal incentives but also the complexity of rules and bureaucracy. Therefore, if the task force is able to resolve regulatory issues that hinder the business world, Rizal predicts that the impact of its presence on increasing investment flows will be significant.

Other benefits that could be gained, should the task force succeed in accelerating licensing and simplifying coordination across ministries and agencies, include job creation and increased competitiveness for national industries.

However, Rizal emphasised that the role of the deregulation task force must be ensured to be more than just a short-term measure or a mere administrative symbol without real structural reform. “The government needs to ensure that the task force possesses strong authority, measurable targets, and transparency in regulatory evaluation, while involving business actors and regional authorities so that implementation does not stop at the central level,” said Rizal.