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US investors call on Indonesia to resolve regulatory issues
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Closer ties: Vice President Jusuf Kalla (right) and US Vice President Mike Pence attend the Business Leaders and Commercial Deal Signing in Jakarta on April 21. (Antara/Rosa Panggabean)
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enior vice president and regional managing director of the US-ASEAN Business Council Michael W. Michalak has said that the United States was concerned about relations between the Indonesian government and the private sector.
He said US investors called on the Indonesian government to resolve several issues, including those related to investment barriers in the oil and gas sector, the payment sector and the digital economy.
“We mainly talked about investment that, we think, really has good potential as long as we can resolve some regulatory issues,” said Michalak after meeting with Coordinating Maritime Affairs Minister Luhut Pandjaitan in Jakarta on Tuesday.
He praised Luhut, saying that the “senior minister was very forthcoming” when Luhut said he would welcome any discussions with the private sector on investment issues.
Michalak said the US considered ASEAN as one of the growth engines of the economy.
In April, US Vice President Mike Pence and his Indonesian counterpart Jusuf Kalla celebrated more than US$10 billion worth of trade and investment agreements, which they said demonstrated the strength of the US-Indonesia economic ties.
Indonesia pocketed Rp 165.8 trillion (US$12.5 billion) in investments in the first quarter of the year, or 24.4 percent of the 2017 investment target of Rp 678.8 trillion, the Investment Coordinating Board (BKPM) announced in April.
The figure is a 13.2 percent increase from the Rp 146.5 trillion in investments recorded in the same quarter last year. (dis/bbn)
