T

he government is considering liberalizing the health, e-commerce and creative-industry sectors as part of its deregulation efforts to alleviate the domestic economic slowdown.

The three sectors are among the least open to foreign investment and are highly regulated by the Communications and Information Ministry, Creative Economy Agency (Bekraf) and Health Ministry.

'€œWe are reviewing the policy on future developments in health, creative industries and e-commerce, as we are currently discussing further deregulation. We are trying to map our shortcomings in our industries,'€ Coordinating Economic Affairs Minister Darmin Nasution told reporters after a coordination meeting on Monday evening with ministries responsible for the sectors.

No details were immediately available on the deregulation plans as the meeting only touched on the general overview of the sectors.

The government is gauging public opinion until Oct. 31 to revise its negative investment list (DNI), which restricts foreign ownership in a number of sectors.

Darmin said the government was still reviewing whether deregulation in the health sector, for instance, would be beneficial to the government'€™s national healthcare program, which faces high costs while the country'€™s pharmacy industry still relies heavily on imports of raw materials.

Despite significant growth in the last couple of years, the country'€™s pharmacy industry still needs to improve its upstream and downstream business operations, according to Darmin.

'€œThe upstream side of the pharmacy industry is still highly regulated and we still rely too much on other countries. We have to find ways to develop it, but we will need to discuss it further,'€ Darmin said, adding that the government aimed to have better strategy and policy on deregulation in health, e-commerce and creative industries.

The DNI lists sectors that are either wholly or partially closed to foreign investment for various reasons, such as the protection of local industries or because of Indonesian culture. Industries such as narcotics, alcohol production and certain chemicals, as well as the establishment of casinos and some transportation facilities are fully closed to foreign investors.

Those industries categorized as only partially closed to foreign investment to protect local producers include sugar, rattan, film, printed batik and mining.

In the 2014 presidential regulation on the DNI, cinemas and film distribution were 100 percent restricted only for local investment, while some cinematography sub-sectors were permitted partial (49 percent) foreign investment.

Bekraf head Triawan Munaf, who attended the coordination meeting, said creative industry had 16 sub-sectors that still needed easier permits and fiscal incentives, such as architecture, culinary, fashion, music, cinema, graphic design and photography.

Triawan said further discussions should be conducted on whether or not to open these sub-sectors fully to foreign investment. E-commerce and film-making, excluding technical services and production houses, are still fully closed to foreign investment and film-making is legally under the supervision of the Education and Culture Ministry.

'€œAnother sub-sector that should be reviewed is book publishing and things related to customs and excise for paintings as well as tax incentives for game designers and apps,'€ Triawan said.

The Investment Coordinating Board (BKPM) recently started coordinating with all ministries, business groups and companies in its efforts to revise the DNI and it proposed at least 28 points related to major economic sectors, including trade, culture, fisheries, plantation and mining.

'€œOf the 28 points, 16 propose more liberalization, while the remaining 12 are more restrictive. However, the spirit is to provide certainty for investors who wish to enter those sectors,'€ BKPM head Franky Sibarani said.

Investment accounts for about a third of the country'€™s economy and is crucial to achieving President Joko '€œJokowi'€ Widodo'€™s ambitious economic growth target of 7 percent during his five-year tenure.