President asked to lift investment ban on dot-coms

President asked to lift investment ban on dot-coms

JAKARTA (JP): State Minister of Investment and State
Enterprises Development Rozy Munir is asking President
Abdurrahman Wahid to revise his controversial decree which bans
foreign investment in the multimedia and telecommunications
sectors, a senior official of the office of the state minister
said on Monday.

Deputy minister for communications and the media Riza Primadi
said the minister planned to send a letter to the President on
Tuesday to officially ask for a review of the decree.

"We expect the President to quickly revise the decree. The
new, revised, decree is expected to be issued before Sept. 8, the
date when the new Telecommunications Law will come into force,"
he said.

He said the new decree would delist multimedia businesses from
the negative lists for foreign investments.

"Internet-related business will be open to all foreign
investors. There'll be no restriction whatsoever," he said.

Presidential Decree No. 96/2000, dated July 20, prohibits
nonexisting foreign investors from investing in the country's
"information multimedia" businesses.

The decree does not provide details on the information
multimedia sector but officials later confirmed that it included
Internet service providers (ISPs), Internet content providers,
portals and e-business service companies.

The government earlier defended its move, saying that the ban
was meant to delay a slew of foreign Internet players from
flocking into the local market so that local companies would have
more time and room to develop and strengthen their positions.

Riza said his office was also asking for the revision of the
decree, particularly to allow foreign investors to own up to 95
percent of local telecommunication firms.

Under the decree, foreign investors are only allowed to have
up to a 49 percent stake in local telecommunication companies.

He said the call for a revision was jointly made by some
government institutions involved in an interdepartmental meeting
on Monday to discuss the mounting criticism from existing local
and foreign Internet players.

Local and foreign Internet businesses have been protesting the
ban, calling it a blunder and a disaster for the country's
Internet industry.

At present, major existing Internet-based companies, including
Agrakom, Catcha and Astaga!com are controlled by foreign
investors. (cst)