IEU-CEPA Accelerated: BKPM Reveals Key Factors to Attract European Investment
The Ministry of Investment and Downstreaming/BKPM has highlighted the importance of strengthening regulations and Indonesia’s readiness to increase its attractiveness to European investment, alongside the target implementation of the Indonesia-European Union Comprehensive Economic Partnership Agreement (IEU-CEPA) in early 2027.
Nurul Ichwan, Deputy for Investment Promotion at the Ministry of Investment and Downstreaming/BKPM, stated that Indonesia needs to ensure a competitive investment climate to attract long-term capital. “The most important thing is to ensure that Indonesia is not only economically attractive but also easy and competitive as a long-term investment location,” Ichwan told Kontan on Wednesday (30/09/202lar).
“First, maintaining legal certainty and regulatory consistency. Global experience shows that large investors value policy certainty, speed of execution, and ease of doing business more than incentives alone,” he continued.
Furthermore, the government is said to need to strengthen licensing services and accelerate investment realisation. He assessed that one way to achieve this is through the implementation of the Online Single Submission (OSS) system.
“Second, strengthening licensing services and accelerating investment realisation through the OSS system, resolving investment bottlenecks, and strengthening the facilitation of strategic projects,” he said.
In addition, the development of renewable energy and green industrial zones is also a focus for attracting investors. “Many European companies currently require the use of clean energy to meet decarbonisation targets and global sustainability standards,” Ichwan added.
He also emphasised the readiness of human resources (HR) and talent to support investment in high-technology sectors, especially amidst increasingly intense global talent competition. “Global investment competition is increasingly determined by the availability of skilled labour, engineers, researchers, and professionals capable of supporting high-tech industries,” he revealed.
On the industrial side, Ichwan noted that Indonesia also needs to improve its ability to meet various standards applicable in the European Union market, such as quality, traceability, and sustainability standards.
“Fifth, strengthening the readiness of the national industry to meet the quality, traceability, and sustainability standards applicable in the European Union. Thus, the market access opened through IEU-CEPA can be optimally utilised by national business actors,” he explained.
“Indonesia’s success in seizing this opportunity will be determined by our ability to present a competitive investment climate and our ability to connect Indonesia’s natural resources with the technology, capital, and global market networks possessed by Europe,” he concluded.
For information, IEU-CEPA negotiations were completed in September 2025. The agreement is targeted for signing in November 2026 and is set to begin implementation in early 2027.