Indonesia risks chasing away foreign investors
Indonesia risks chasing away foreign investors
V.K. Chin, The Star, Asia News Network/Selangor, Malaysia
The continued defiance of the South Sulawesi police to detain
two Malaysian accountants even though they had been freed by the
court, will only create more problems for Indonesia.
It will be another blot on the way things are conducted in the
republic and it will further frighten away foreign investors who
already have enough misgivings over corruption and red tape.
It is not that Malaysia wants the two accountants, Choo Yao
Chin and Raimala Sivalingam, to be given any special treatment
and if they should be suspected of committing any immigration
offense, they should at least be allowed bail.
Instead, Choo and his colleague, both employees of
international accounting firm KPMG, were refused bail and the
former was being locked up together with hardened criminals.
Nobody is saying that the police there are not doing what is
within their rights but it is just not proper for a person
supposedly held for a visa offense to be placed together with
criminals and other undesirable elements.
It is quite clear that something unusual is going on there and
that the two Malaysians have most probably been detained to teach
them or their employers a lesson for whatever reasons.
Both of them could be released on bail and they can remain in
Indonesia until their case is up for hearing. Since an earlier
court had already cleared them of any wrongdoing, they should be
freed even if they should be brought to court again.
The police chief there knew the circumstances but he is
prepared to go through the whole charade for reasons known only
to himself and other involved parties in the district.
There is little or nothing that the company can do to
compensate them for the ordeal they have gone through especially
Choo. Unfortunately, this show of defiance may backfire badly on
Indonesia.
Its leaders can introduce all the necessary legislation to
attract foreign investment or to make all sorts of promises to
win over overseas investors but the publicity given to the latest
incident will surely turn the clock back.
If officials outside Jakarta should fail to follow the
instructions and do as they like in dealing with foreign
investors and professionals, then foreign businessmen will just
forget about the republic for the time being and go elsewhere.
This will be a serious blow to the Indonesian economy and to
the Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono administration, which is trying so
hard to woo foreign investment to spur growth and to provide jobs
for the tens of millions of unemployed Indonesians.
While the Indonesian president is a much respected leader by
the outside world, he appears to have a tough time fighting
corruption and red tape, two major curses facing any government
trying to gain investors' confidence.