Korean Businessmen Highlight Layered Permits Across Multiple Ministries, Government's Response

The Indonesian government has received input from several South Korean businessmen regarding the investment climate in Indonesia. This emerged during Indonesia’s working visit to South Korea on Wednesday (1/4/2026). Investment and Downstreaming Minister or Head of BKPM Rosan Roeslani revealed that in the meeting, one of the issues raised was the permitting process, which is still seen as needing acceleration and cross-ministerial coordination. He explained that some of the obstacles faced by investors are indeed related to the authority of several technical ministries, so their resolution requires time. Nevertheless, the government is committed to speeding up the process in line with the President’s directives. “Moreover, we now also have the Task Force for Debottlenecking, and we at BKPM are always coordinating with all ministries,” Rosan told the media on Wednesday (1/4/2026). On the regulatory side, Rosan mentioned that the issuance of Government Regulation (PP) No. 28 is one of the important steps in increasing certainty for investors. The regulation provides time guarantees in the permitting process, where if the specified time limit is not met by the relevant agency, the Ministry of Investment can directly issue the permit automatically. The policy, known as the positive fictitious mechanism, has received a positive response from South Korean business players. According to Rosan, investors can basically accept business risks as long as those risks are measurable (calculated risk). However, uncertainty in the permitting process is a factor that is difficult to predict and often becomes the main obstacle. He also emphasised that he will continue to improve policy responses based on input from investors. “The President also conveyed that with this input, the government’s policy response will certainly be even better, and this can improve the investment climate and industry climate in Indonesia,” he stressed.