TEMPO.CO, Jakarta - The influx of foreign construction companies (BUJKA) is unstoppable in the ASEAN Economic Community (AEC) era.
Data from the Investment Coordinating Board (BKPM) as of October 2016 shows that the majority of BUJKA expanding into Indonesia are those of China, followed by South Korea.
The Indonesian Builders Association (Gapensi) observes that Chinese construction companies’ expansion into other countries has been fully backed by the Chinese government. Aside from enhancing domestic market, Chines government also pushes construction companies to work on offshore projects regardless of language or cultural barriers.
Gapensi second deputy secretary general Errika Ferdinata said that the Indonesian government should follow China’s lead. He expects the government to take concrete measures to address it, such as pushing large state-owned enterprises (SOEs) to expand into other countries, leaving domestic construction market to small and medium enterprises.
“We had said it on several occasions during meetings with ministries that we have yet to enjoy infrastructure boom. [The government] should be ready while strengthening domestic contractors, the big ones [SOEs] should expand overseas, don’t let all the big ones and small ones compete here. The big ones will only become a big fish in a small pond,” he said on Monday.
BKPM official Agung Dermawan said there are currently 49.5 registered Chinese construction companies in Indonesia as of early October, followed by 46 South Korean construction companies. It was in odd number because one Chinese consruction company has two certificates with two different validity period: active and inactive.
As of October 2016, there are 591 registered foreign construction companies in Indonesia. As many as 227 are active, some 292 are inactive and 75 are closed.
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