President Urges to Cut Investment Bureaucracy

TEMPO.CO, Jakarta-President Joko Widodo has urged the ministries and institutions to cut down on time-consuming bureaucratic procedures and facilitate grant of permits, licenses and certificates to make it easier to do business.

"Indonesia is ranked at sixth place in ASEAN when it comes to ease of doing business," President Joko Widodo said in a limited cabinet meeting here on Tuesday, September 29.

"Indonesia needs 10 procedures, while Singapore and Malaysia require three procedures to do business," the President said.

To start a business in Indonesia, the President noted, it takes 52 days. In Singapore and Malaysia, it requires just five days.

Earlier, Industry Minister Saleh Husin said the ministry will abolish 14 ministerial regulations and a draft regulation of the government to improve the business climate in the country.

"Currently, the ministry is doing a marathon duty, together with other related agencies, to improve the business climate in the country," Saleh Husin said here on Saturday.

Saleh made the statement after addressing a seminar on "Indonesias Opportunities and Challenges Facing the ASEAN Economic Community," at the Sriwijaya University in this South Sumatra capital.

Referring to its efforts to cope with the economic slowdown, the government hopes to boost the investment sector to shore up the flagging economy, he said.

The economy has hit a slump with growth slowing down from 4.71 percent in the first quarter to 4.67 percent in the second quarter of the year.

"It is noteworthy, however, that a stronger growth was recorded in the manufacturing sector, rising from 5.21 percent to 5.27 percent. This means if restrictive regulations are removed, the manufacturing sector would grow at an even higher rate," he said.

Therefore, the government is still optimistic that the manufacturing sector would expand by the end of this year despite the global economic woes, he said.

"In principle, we would prune all restrictive regulations. It is expected that by the end of September, the process of deregulation would be wrapped up to improve the investment climate," he said.

He said one of the incentives offered by the government was a tax holiday that became effective from 5 August, 2015.

Tax holiday is given in case of investment of more than Rp1 trillion which creates many jobs.

ANTARA