Foreign investment in small businesses

Foreign investment in small businesses

Future Japanese investments will be dominated by small and
medium-scale businesses. This was disclosed by the Japanese
foreign trade (Jetro) director, Masanori Osumi, to the press in
Jakarta on Monday.

According to Osumi, Jetro has received many requests for
information on investment opportunities in Indonesia from
Japanese small and medium-scale businesses. This new trend is
caused by the fact that Japanese big businesses which are already
established in Indonesia need small and medium-scale supporting
businesses, especially those based in Japan.

Another reason is the appreciation of the yen against the U.S.
dollar, which has weakened the competitive standing of many
Japanese companies because of high cost pressures.

We naturally hope that many small and medium-scale investments
will come to Indonesia to help open more job opportunities, earn
foreign exchange, promote the transfer of technology and so
forth.

The opportunity was already opened through the deregulation
package of May 1994, which, among other things, permits 100
percent foreign investment operations. The amount of money
invested can be adjusted to match the economic viability and type
of operations of the business concerned and is no longer
restricted to US$ 1 million as before. Practically all lines of
business have been opened to foreign investment.

Jetro, however, still complains about infrastructure and
bureaucratic constraints. This is an old complaint which we must
answer.

-- Suara Karya, Jakarta