TheJakartaPost
Please Update your browser
Your browser is out of date, and may not be compatible with our website. A list of the most popular web browsers can be found below.
Just click on the icons to get to the download page.
BKPM gathers pace to speed up RI’s investment growth
Change Size
Indonesia is pressing ahead with its economic reform agenda by looking to optimize the upcoming big international business forums.
The first event to come is the 34th Trade Expo Indonesia (TEI) 2019 in Jakarta, this October, followed by the Bloomberg New Economy Forum (NEF) in Beijing, in November.
Indonesia’s biggest Trade, Tourism and Investment event will take place at Indonesia Convention Exhibition (ICE) in BSD City, Tangerang, Banten, from Oct. 16 to 20.
The second edition of the Bloomberg NEF, from Nov. 20 to 22, is a business forum featuring CEOs and the world’s leading economists seeking to promote deeper understanding and develop actionable solutions on important global issues.
The organizers have secured former United States secretary of the treasury Hank Paulson, Alibaba Group chairman Jack Ma and former chair of the US Federal Reserve Janet Yellen in the speaker lineup. The world’s leaders have agreed to collaborate with their peers on devising solutions to the issues facing the global economy in the year ahead.
Investment Coordinating Board (BKPM) chairman Thomas Lembong will use the Beijing event to show the world Indonesia’s economic reforms that may -- as predicted by several leading international financial institutions -- push the country to become one of the world’s top four economic powers.
A plan to upgrade the BKPM’s status from coordinating board to ministry is part of the government’s reform agenda with a view to accelarating economic growth.
However, the immediate task at hand for BKPM will be how to make TEI 2019 at home a successful trade, tourism and investment showcase.
This year’s TEI, which carries the theme of “Moving Forward to Serve the World”, is a strategic move to promote national products to the global market by displaying domestic quality products and developing business and investment networks.
One of the innovations at this year’s event, an annual business-to-business event that the Trade Ministry has been holding since 1985, will also serve as a help desk where the participants can seek information about the government’s online single submission (OSS) system, a web-based, integrated business licensing system to expedite the processing of business permits.
Launched in July 2018 and with a recently upgraded 1.1 version tentatively set for a mid-October launch, the OSS system aims to provide easier and faster procedures for companies to obtain business permits in Indonesia.
Investors have been complaining about red tape problems, and the OSS system is expected to give them the solutions.
The upgraded OSS system is the latest step taken by the Indonesian government in its efforts to increase foreign investment and generate higher economic growth.
TEI and Bloomberg NEF participants are expected to raise interest to invest in Indonesia with traditional foreign direct investment sources such as the United States, the United Kingdom, Singapore, China, Europe, Japan and South Korea being the target.
South Asian and Middle Eastern countries, as well as Turkey are also on the BKPM’s radar.
Last year, transactions were recorded at US$8.49 billion, a fivefold increase from the initially expected $1.5 billion. As many as 33,333 visitors from 132 countries came to the expo.
Seminars, workshops, discussion panels, regional discussions, an export competition for startup companies and business counselling will also take place at the events.
For the past five decades, the BKPM has been pursuing efforts to scale up investment in Indonesia by coordinating with other institutions and pushing for more business-friendly regulations.
The investment coordinating board is optimistic about Indonesia’s economic future based on positive indicators, particularly in the last decade. Indonesia has seen rapid economic growth indicated by a significant rise in gross domestic product (GDP) from US$400 billion in 2007 to more than $1 trillion in 2017.
The positive trend in economic growth and massive development in infrastructure, supported by demographic potential, send such a clear signal about what the future holds for Indonesia, that prominent financial institutions have expressed optimism Indonesia will become the fourth-biggest economy in the world, with an expected GDP of $10.1 trillion by 2030.
The BKPM hopes the two economic forums will drive the world’s investors to further explore business opportunities in Indonesia.
