Prabowo: Investors Complain About the Difficulty of Permitting in Indonesia
President Prabowo Subianto stated that there are still Indonesian bureaucrats who make the permitting process difficult for foreign entrepreneurs. This difficulty, Prabowo said, causes investors to complain.
“Many foreign investors complain that in Indonesia, permits often take a very long time and there are many of them. Sometimes the permitting requirements are unreasonable,” Prabowo said at the Attorney General’s Office in Jakarta on Wednesday, 13 May 2026.
Prabowo expressed astonishment that such practices continue despite the government’s efforts to simplify the permitting process. According to him, permits that have been made easier are being complicated again through various technical provisions.
“The tendency of regulations is an initiative from bureaucrats, to be frank, to seek opportunities. Some ask for kickbacks, ask for money so that the permit can be expedited,” Prabowo stated.
The General Chairman of the Gerindra Party said that he has received complaints from groups of entrepreneurs who want to work and invest in Indonesia but face difficulties in obtaining permits. Even, according to him, it is not uncommon for the permits they need to be issued only after one to two years since the application process. Meanwhile, in other countries, permitting can be completed in two weeks.
Therefore, Prabowo wants to refer to neighbouring countries that have easier permitting bureaucracies. “If they can issue permits in two weeks, why do we take two years,” he said.
The China Chamber of Commerce previously sent a letter to President Prabowo to convey various complaints regarding the investment climate in Indonesia. In the letter that circulated on Tuesday, 12 May 2026, Chinese entrepreneurs highlighted several policies that they consider burdensome to the business world.
Some policies highlighted by the China Chamber of Commerce include the difficulty of permitting and bureaucracy in Indonesia, increases in mineral royalties, regulatory uncertainty, and law enforcement that is considered excessive.
The China Chamber of Commerce stated that investments from their country also contribute to national development. However, they assess that in recent times, the business world has faced increasingly greater challenges in Indonesia.