Regent successfully attracts investors

Adianto P. Simamora, The Jakarta Post, Jakarta

No many people would give up a promising career in a big city like Jakarta to work back in their native village.

But that is not the case with Master P. Tumanggor, the current regent of Dairi regency, North Sumatra province.

He left Jakarta in 1999, while still holding a key position as director of planning at the Office of the State Minister of State Enterprises and won the election for the position of regent.

"I simply wish to devote my entire life to Dairi regency," the father of four said at a recent interview.

Dairi, a mountainous regency on the western part of beautiful Lake Toba, is located about 110 kilometers from Medan, the capital of North Sumatra province.

It takes about four hours to reach the regency via land transportation from Medan.

Regional Autonomy Watch (KPPOD) recently gave Dairi an award for creating the best institutional environment for investors.

Tumanggor, who holds a PhD in public finance from Universite of Paris Dauphine in Paris, said that the decision to leave for Dairi was taken after observing the dire state of the regency and the increasing number of poor people in the area.

"I felt sympathy for the villagers. I wanted to help speed up (economic) development in the area and help lift people from poverty," he said.

"Many parents cannot send their children to school because they just don't have the money."

He added that the local people could not even develop the potential of the regency's agriculture sector due to their lack of knowledge about good farming systems and marketing.

But Tumanggor had to face criticism, both from his own family and friends, over his decision to leave Jakarta.

"I admit it was difficult to leave," he said.

"That's why my wife and children strongly opposed my decision. They wanted me to continue my career in Jakarta," said the 52- year-old, who worked at the Office of the State Minister of State Enterprises from 1992.

Today, his four children live in Jakarta.

"Even my six-year-old, youngest daughter prefers to live in Jakarta with a maid rather than in Dairi," said Tumanggor.

Not only his family opposed the decision. "Many of my friends said that I was stupid and crazy to end my career in Jakarta only for the small regency of Dairi," he said.

Dairi has long been known as one of the coffee farming areas in North Sumatra. Most of the plantations are privately owned by farmers.

The regency produces some 15,000 tons of coffee per year.

Tumanggor realized that to accelerate economic development in Dairi, the role of investors was crucial. Since assuming office, he moved quickly to create a favorable investment climate in the regency.

Among the positive factors cited by KPPOD in the regency are investor-friendly government policy, legal certainties and better bureaucracy, compared with those in other regions.

"Frankly speaking ... I never imagined that Dairi would be as it is now (cited as the most encouraging place for investment) within the country," Tumanggor said.

"I also did not know when KPPOD visited the regency -- I was very surprised at its announcement," he added.

He remembered that, when he first arrived in Dairi, investors were very reluctant to visit the regency due to the poor investment climate there.

Indeed, many regional administrations, after they obtained autonomy, were so aggressive in collecting revenue that they squeezed investors, thus scaring away potential new investors.

To run Dairi's administration, Tumanggor admitted that he had learned a lot from former minister of finance Mar'ie Muhammad.

"He has a strong spirit; I admire his systematic approach and decision-making methods," said Tumanggor.

He said that in a bid to attract investors he had launched a campaign among local government officials that investors should be treated like kings.

"I treat investors like kings, which means that I must serve them as well as possible," Tumanggor said.

"I often pick up visiting investors myself at the airport," he added.

From the start, he also moved to create a more efficient bureaucracy.

Tumanggor added that better cooperation with the local legislative council was another key to creating a better policy.

He said that local lawmakers had the same view as he that the role of investors was crucial to the local economy.

"It would be impossible to create investor-friendly policy if members of the council opposed our proposals," he said.

Soon after the KPPOD announcement, Tumanggor received dozens of congratulatory messages from local investors.

"We also received proposals from a number of investors. They plan to invest in our regency," he said.

Minister of Trade and Industry Rini Soewandi is expected soon to officially launch a cold storage facility in the regency, the only one in North Sumatra province.

"It will become the center for storing vegetables from several regencies, such as North Tapanuli and Tobasa, before sending them to traditional markets and for export," he said.

The regency is also planning to turn a 10-hectare area into a religious center, where the five religions officially accepted in the country can establish places of worship in the area.

Tumanggor said this could potentially stimulate tourism in the regency.

Minister of Religious Affairs Said Agil Munawar is expected to officially launch the complex next year.