BKPM Chief Pledges to Assist Investments Worth Rp300 Trillion as Pandemic Deals Blow

BKPM chief pledges to assist investments worth Rp300 trillion as pandemic deals blow. The Investment Coordinating Board (BKPM) is looking to debottleneck Rp300 trillion worth of investment commitments in the pipeline as the pandemic slows down investment realization.

Pandemic Deals Blow

Despite the COVID-19 crisis, the BKPM vows to continue working hard to assist potential investors, untangling the investment process to attract higher investment realization in the country.

BKPM head Bahlil Lahadalia told a virtual press briefing on Thursday that the agency would help ensure business licensing and land problems, the two biggest hurdles in the nation’s investment projects. He reported that the BKPM had facilitated Rp410 trillion of investment realization including from Hyundai and Vale, which had previously faced hurdles mostly relating to land and licensing matters. 

“I want to convince you that if foreign investors want to do business in Indonesia, the BKPM team will pick you up when you arrive at the airport. We will assist you as long as you have serious intention to invest in Indonesia. We will handle all the licensing and you just bring the capital and the technology,” said Bahlil. 

“We still have Rp300 trillion [in potential investment] that needs to be facilitated by us.” 

Investment realization in the first quarter this year reached Rp210.7 trillion, a moderate growth of 8 percent from the same period last year. However, foreign direct investment (FDI) contribution fell 9 percent to only Rp98 trillion in the first quarter this year from Rp107.9 trillion in the same period last year. Meanwhile, domestic direct investment (DDI) reached Rp112 trillion, a 28 percent increase from Rp87.2 trillion in the first quarter last year.

Bahlil said the decreasing FDI was the result of the COVID-19 pandemic. The BKPM also decided to revise down its annual investment realization target to Rp817 trillion, almost 8 percent lower than its original target of Rp886.1 trillion.

As Indonesia wants to transform the economy from primary sector industry to value-added based industry, the BKPM is focusing on attracting investors in the downstream industry. In the future, the BKPM will also try to boost investment in the medical devices industry aside from other favored sectors such as energy.

“The BKPM is trying to boost investment coming from the medical devices industry because during the COVID-19 pandemic, we imported a lot of medical devices from abroad,” Bahlil said. “We would like to approach investors in the medical devices industry, we will open the market to those investors”. BKPM chief pledges to assist investments worth Rp300 trillion as pandemic deals blow (Riza Roidila Mufti, The Jakarta Post)