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Bahlil promises continuity of investment policy post-Jokowi
The investment minister has asserted that a government led by presumptive president-elect Prabowo Subianto will stick with the approach of the incumbent administration to attract investment.
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Investment Minister Bahlil Lahadalia poses for a photo after a press briefing at his office in Jakarta on March 18, 2024. (JP/Deni Ghifari)
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nvestment Minister Bahlil Lahadalia has asserted that a government led by presumptive president-elect Prabowo Subianto will stick with the approach of the incumbent administration to attract investment.
President Joko “Jokowi” Widodo and his ministers have pursued a proactive strategy by frequently making the first move toward foreign governments and companies alike in a bid to convince them face-to-face of Indonesia’s merits as an investment destination.
“Since the [election] winner happens to be Prabowo and Gibran [Rakabuming Raka], I believe that [the policies that] are already good will remain [in place],” said Bahlil in a press briefing on Monday, noting how the Prabowo-Gibran ticket had peddled continuity in its election campaign.
Bahlil highlighted the benefits of retaining tested concepts, noting that “finding a new format is not easy”.
He admitted with reference to Jokowi administration policies that “nothing is perfect” and therefore modifications and adjustments would take place. However, “around 70 percent” of the Jokowi strategy would be carried over.
Bahlil told reporters that, for one, the government lacked a comprehensive and detailed catalogue of investment opportunities in the country. A case in point was the mining sector, where the government should have exploration data on hand to show investors the business potential based on discovered reserves.
The minister described Jokowi’s hallmark downstream development policy, which leverages the country’s natural resources and involves raw material export bans to stimulate growth of domestic industries, as “a test of our nationalism”.
