Investing in Indonesia

Investing in Indonesia

The latest fiasco regarding the possible requirement for male
foreigners to put up US$50,000 for marrying an Indonesian woman,
is, like so many have commented, totally ridiculous.

Even the government acknowledges that the current marriage law
is woefully inadequate but instead of fixing the "bad" law, it is
pondering coming up with a "patch" which really doesn't address
the inherent problems that exist in the current law.

I am at total loss to see how the government can even float
such a ludicrous idea. If the marriage law is not good, then fix
it properly.

The current state of many laws involving foreigners ranging
from investing to marrying here are, to say the least,
exceptionally strange.

Indonesia must realize that the market for foreign investment
capital is highly competitive. After all, why should foreigners
invest in Indonesia with its business-unfriendly laws when they
can so easily invest elsewhere in Asia and be warmly welcomed?
Why is it that Malaysia, Australia and China all have straight-
forward foreign investment regulations, and all benefit from the
influx of foreign capital that helps in creating jobs, while
Indonesia is struggling to attract foreign capital?

So my message to the Indonesian government is simple: If you
really care about the fate of your people then you should hurry
up and create an environment where foreigners want to invest in
Indonesia. Why? Because foreign investment will lead to more jobs
and that will benefit the people of Indonesia.

If conditions for foreign investment do not improve, well
then, we can always invest elsewhere.

ROBERT A. ESKAPA, Jakarta