Luring investment
Against a backdrop of the sagging of the rupiah against the U.S. dollar and the dire need of quick recovery from a prolonged economic "impotence", the initiative to lure more foreign investors as televised live by TVRI on the evening of May 23, 2000, deserves praise. The meeting was held at the Hilton International Hotel and was attended mostly by ambassadors of foreign missions in Jakarta. Also seen attending the function were foreign trade missions and chiefs of foreign companies, not to mention journalists.
Speakers on the Indonesian side included, surprisingly, Attorney General Marzuki Darusman and chief of the National Police Let. Gen. Roesdihardjo. A chief representative of the World Trade Center in Indonesia and some economists made themselves available to answer questions.
The Indonesian side wanted to impress on the foreign parties that investment laws were as steadfast as ever, though admittedly there had been some violations. Also, that in spite of media reports to the contrary, capital investment was safe in most places, the exception being the disturbances in some outlying areas. The presence of the attorney general and the police chief was obviously designed to make these assurances sound more credible.
The fight against corruption, unfortunately, has hardly produced any tangible results, and along with collusion and nepotism, the disease goes on unabated. However, although at a slow pace, foreign investment has been coming in and is being processed as usual.
On such an occasion we might have expected to hear from economist Emil Salim or Sri Mulyani or a minister from the economic team to present their arguments on why it is profitable to invest in Indonesia.
If there are foreign ambassadors or foreign interests who still doubt the unlimited potential under the protection of the law, the presence of the attorney general and the police chief would have surely allayed those fears. Though not visible on screen, I am sure there were also representatives of the Navy, the Army and the Air Force in civilian dress to attest to the improved security conditions. Whosoever has the guts to encourage smuggling, piracy or violations of the investment law know who they will face. My impression was, however, that the meeting was more polite and formal rather than enthusiastically held in the wrong place and attended by the wrong people.
Hopefully, endeavors like this to help boost the economic recovery will not be futile.
GANDHI SUKARDI
Jakarta