Senior Economist Laments Investment Minister's Claims

TEMPO.CO, Jakarta - Senior economist Faisal Basri in a virtual discussion on Tuesday, touted ‘Reading Indonesia’s Economy for 2023,’ reminded the public that the claims issued by Investment Minister Bahlil Lahadalia should be taken with a grain of salt and blatantly said that the Minister’s claims regarding Indonesia’s investment realization often misses the mark.

“Investments are not Rp1,200 trillion. What I often hear that is flawed is the statement from the Investment Minister. He says that Rp1,200 trillion, reaching Indonesia’s investment target,” said the senior economist from the University of Indonesia on January 31. 

Faisal said the Head of the Investment Coordinating Board (BKPM) often claims to have reached the investment realization target for 2022 which exceeds Rp. 1,200 trillion. In fact, the realization of investment in the country as a whole reached Rp 5,000 trillion.

"The Rp 1,200 trillion claimed by the Minister of Investment is only one-fifth of the total," said Bahlil. "So, he doesn't take care of investment as a whole, (but) only investments coming through BKPM (Investment Coordinating Board). In fact, most of the investments do not go through BKPM. So, don't trust Bahlil too much," said Faisal.

However, he did acknowledge that Indonesia’s investment achievement remains commendable. He gave an example of the tourism sector that grew to 4.6 million. 

“But this is still far from the achievement prior to the pandemic of 6 million. Our investment is actually pretty cool, only China has a higher investment than Indonesia. While the rest in Asia, we remain the highest,” said the senior economist. 

He insisted that the crucial issue in Indonesia remains in its high percentage of corruption, which reflects in the corruption perception index score that has yet again dropped.

“So, to produce all of this, an additional 50 percent more capital is needed than the previous regimes. This is what should be in the Omnibus," said Faisal.

As previously reported, Minister Bahlil Lahadalia announced investment realization data for 2022 reached Rp 1,207.2 trillion. This figure exceeds 100.6 percent of the initial target set at Rp 1,200 trillion.

This achievement increased by 34 percent compared to the same period in 2021 and succeeded in absorbing 1,305,001 Indonesian workers (TKI).

"Our target is 1.3 million (TKI) from (investment) Rp 1,2000 trillion. But there are 7 million more from MSMEs, so it is achieved," said Bahlil after a press conference at the BKPM office, in South Jakarta on Tuesday, January 24.

He explained that the investment realization value in 2022 was the largest in history and that the investment realization target in the RPJMN (National Medium Term Development Plan) was actually around Rp 968 trillion, but President Jokowi gave a target of Rp 1,200 trillion.

AMELIA RAHIMA SARI

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