Intellectual Property Rights: Complex Bureaucracy Deters Foreign Investors from Entering Indonesia
Bisnis.com, JAKARTA — The Indonesian Industrial Estate Association (HKI) has revealed that complaints from foreign investors regarding investment regulations and bureaucracy in Indonesia are not limited to those from China, but also include investors from the United States.
The Chairman of HKI, Akhmad Ma’ruf Maulana, stated that investors from the United States had expressed their concerns about investment obstacles since the beginning of the new administration.
“Before Chinese investors wrote to the president, there were already American investors who complained. However, these American investors preferred to keep it private and not publicise their complaints,” he told Bisnis on Friday (15/05/2026).
According to Akhmad, the main issue with investment in Indonesia is not a lack of investor interest, but rather regulations and bureaucracy that are perceived as hindering the realisation of investments.
He believes that the government’s efforts to attract foreign investment have not been fully matched by policy synchronisation at the ministry level or regional governments.
“The President has travelled the world to attract investment and has successfully attracted it. However, this is not being supported by regulations in relevant ministries and regional governments,” he said.
Akhmad, who is also the Deputy Chairman of the Indonesian Chamber of Commerce and Industry (Kadin) for Special Economic Zones, Industrial Estates, and National Strategic Projects, stated that there are still many overlapping regulations. In addition, the implementation of policies at the regional level often differs from the directives of the central government.
He also highlighted the strong influence of political interests in the investment bureaucracy process, which is seen as hindering business certainty.
According to him, Indonesia actually has significant investment potential due to its abundant natural resources and large domestic market. However, this potential has not been fully realised due to negative investor perceptions regarding the bureaucratic process.
“In reality, foreign investors are very interested in Indonesia. However, the problem is the complex bureaucracy,” he emphasised.
On the other hand, Akhmad mentioned that several members of HKI are continuing to expand their industrial estates. Nevertheless, the permitting process is considered increasingly complex, so business actors need more time to obtain certainty regarding permits.
Some investors, he added, prefer to communicate investment obstacles directly to the central government. However, there are also investors who choose to postpone expansion because they do not want to openly express their complaints.
Therefore, HKI welcomes the plan to form a Deregulation Task Force initiated by President Prabowo Subianto. According to Akhmad, the formation of this task force is needed to accelerate the resolution of investment obstacles.
“We hope that we can be involved so that we can provide input wholeheartedly on how these investment obstacles can be resolved quickly. And we are optimistic that under the new administration, led by the president, everything can be resolved,” he said.
He believes that the formation of the Deregulation Task Force needs to be carried out as soon as possible so that global investors’ confidence in Indonesia does not decline.
“If it is not responded to quickly, the outside world will hesitate to invest in Indonesia. Therefore, speed and accuracy are needed in forming this regulatory team. It must be determined which areas need to be delegated to regional governments and which do not,” he explained.