Kediri, Purwakarta named as top investment areas in RI
Kediri, Purwakarta named as top investment areas in RI
The Jakarta Post, Jakarta
The city of Kediri in East Java and Purwakarta regency in West
Java have been named as the most attractive investment
destinations in the country for 2004, according to an annual
survey conducted by the Regional Autonomy Watch (KPPOD).
KPPOD, a non-governmental organization specializing in
research on regional autonomy implementation, also named 12 other
cities and regencies for the best infrastructure, labor
productivity, economic, social and political conditions, and the
fastest improvement categories.
Kediri and Purwakarta were considered the two most attractive
investment destinations because of their consistantly high scores
in all categories.
"Kediri people have the highest purchasing power in the
country, as the city has a GDP per capita of Rp 87.3 million
(US$9,427)," a report from KPPOD received by The Jakarta Post on
Friday said.
KPPOD said Kediri processed investors' permits in a one-stop
service in a professional manner. The city also involved citizens
forming its policies through an institution called the "City
Forum", which made the administration more transparent and
accountable.
Purwakarta was named as the best regency to place investments
last year because of its consistency in "implementing
comprehensive and responsive policies that directly affected the
private sector", the report said.
Having an annual growth of 6.9 percent and a high purchasing
power, Purwakarta had promising prospects, KPPOD noted.
Moreover, the regency had a competitive workforce and the
regional government ensured investors were treated fairly under
the law.
Purwakarta benefitted from its closeness to Jakarta, with
better infrastructure compared with other regencies, the report
said.
The government has been trying hard to boost domestic and
foreign investment in the country to help accelerate economic
growth, which has so far been mainly driven by domestic
consumption.
During the past few years, investment has been scarce partly
due to the poor implementation of the regional autonomy policy
which gives regional administrations more power in managing their
economic affairs.
Many companies have complained about the corrupt, ineffective
bureaucracy in the regions and aggressive moves by local
governments to tax businesses.
The KPPOD's latest survey involved 161 regencies and 53 cities
in 29 provinces with responses from 5,184 business players.
Respondents' most common complaint was that they were burdened
with "unofficial" costs amounting to as much as two-thirds of
their average total production costs.
Moreover, 86.4 percent of the respondents claimed that they
were left out from the local government process in policy-making.
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List of top investment cities/regencies in Indonesia
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Categories City Regency
Best infrastructure Jakarta Karawang, West Java
Best workforce and productivity Kediri, East Java Gresik, East Java
Best economy Balikpapan, East Kalimantan Asahan, North Sumatra
Best political condition Mojokerto, East Java Magetan, East Java
Best institutions Gorontalo, Gorontalo Indramayu, West Java
Fastest improvement Parepare, South Sulawesi Kudus, Central Java
Most attractive for investment Kediri, East Java Purwakarta, West Java
Source: Regional Autonomy Watch (KPPOD)