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Government cautious in revising protested negative investment list
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Secretary to the Coordinating Economic Minister, Susiwijono Moegiarso (Kompa/File)
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fter prompting protests from lobby groups and sparking political controversy, the government is being more cautious in revising the negative investment list (DNI), which is part of the 16th economic policy package announced in mid-November.
Coordinating Economic Ministry secretary Susiwijono said the government had removed 13 business units from the DNI, from the initial plan of 54, but stressed that the revision was ongoing.
“It has not become a decision. It can still change because deliberations are still underway,” Susiwijono said as reported by kontan.co.id on Thursday.
A number of organizations, like the Indonesian Chamber of Commerce (Kadin) and Industry and the Indonesian Employers Association, previously criticized the revised DNI, arguing that the new policy would hamper local businesspeople, particularly micro, small and medium enterprises.
The policy, which is part of the government’s effort to boost foreign investment in trying to narrow the current account deficit, also became political ammunition for Prabowo Subianto, the only rival to President Joko “Jokowi” Widodo in next year’s election.
Speaking at Kadin’s annual leadership meeting, President Jokowi assured that he had instructed relevant ministers to remove certain business units from the negative investment list that have become of concern to the local business community.
Susiwijono declined to mention the business units that had been removed from the initial negative investment list. He also did not mention when the final list would be announced to the public. (bbn)
