Jakarta awaits one-stop service to raise investment
Jakarta awaits one-stop service to raise investment
Damar Harsanto, The Jakarta Post/Jakarta
The Jakarta administration is currently drafting a new bylaw on
investment in an effort to cut down on lengthy red-tape, aimed at
encouraging investment in the capital.
In the revised draft obtained by The Jakarta Post, the
administration will provide a one-stop service for investors
operating in Jakarta.
Article 10 of the draft states that the one-stop service will
be put under a single board, which its establishment will be
further stipulated in a gubernatorial decree.
With the new system, the draft says, investors will no longer
need to go to different city agencies in order to acquire
documents. The board will help investors process documents
through relevant agencies, such as building permits from the City
Construction Supervision and Regulation Agency, as well as
documents clarifying that the business is in accordance with the
public order law.
Under the one-roof system, investors will acquire official
documents and take the approved ones to only one desk.
A deliberation team from the Jakarta Council, who was assigned
to delve into the proposed bylaw, said that the new system would
also give certainty to investors about the length of time needed
in respective steps to obtain documents for investment.
"We ask commitment from the respective agencies to determine
how long they need to process the necessary documents after the
investors fulfill the requirements for investment," the team said
in an official statement obtained by the Post.
Governor Sutiyoso said earlier that current procedures for
investment involved piles of paperwork and red-tape had
discouraged investors to the city.
Foreign investment in the city has plunged sharply by 58
percent to US$1 billion and 376 projects as of August this year,
compared to $2.5 billion and 341 approved projects last year.
Similarly, domestic investment had also declined to Rp 2.627
trillion in the first eight months of this year, compared to Rp 3
trillion in 2003.
Analysts as well as officials have blamed security concerns,
coupled with lingering uncertainty in the procedures of
investment behind the sharp decline.
A recent report from the World Bank and its private sector
lending arm, the International Finance Corporation (IFC), ranks
Indonesia as one of the most difficult places in the world to do
business along with Laos, Cambodia and Vietnam at the bottom of
the list of 145 nations surveyed.
Jakarta Investment Coordinating Board head Muzahiem Mokhtar
explained over the weekend that the board monitoring the one-stop
service will consist of his agency and representatives from
relevant agencies.
"Hopefully, we could start implementing the new bylaw next
year," he said.
I-Box
Proposed time needed to acquire documents for investment
No. Permit Days
________________________________________________________
1. Investment approval 8
2. Approval in investment expansion 8
3. Approval in change of investment 5
4. Fixed Operation Permit (IUT) 5
5. Expansion Operation Permit (IUP) 5
6. Private Importation Identification Number(APIT) 5
7. Import Duties * 5
8. Capital Import facilities* 5
9. Employment of foreigners* 4
*still under discussion at relevant agencies
Source: Jakarta Council's deliberation team on investment bylaw