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Govt told to relax property ownership for foreigners to boost growth
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Apartment towers fill Jakarta's cityscape. (tempo.co/Tony Hartawan)
I
ndonesia Real Estate Broker Association (AREBI) chairman Lukas Bong has called on the government to relax regulations on property ownership for foreigners to help the country’s property industry grow.
Lukas said it was still difficult for foreigners to acquire property in Indonesia, despite many expressing the desire to do so.
“We want the government to open up ownership of luxury apartments to foreigners. Many foreigners, such as those from Japan, Hong Kong and other Asian countries, actually want to buy apartments here,” he said on the sidelines of an event, recently.
Lukas said giving opportunities to foreigners to own apartments valued at Rp 10 billion (US$712.04 million) to Rp 20 billion would not cause harm and instead benefit the property industry.
Lukas projected property growth to reach 6 percent this year, while if the government allowed foreigners to own property, the growth could reach 30 percent. “I believe many are interested in buying property as many foreigners want to enter Indonesia” said Lukas.
Property ownership by foreigners is regulated under Government Regulation No.103/2015 and Agrarian Ministerial Regulation No. 13/2016.
Under the regulations, foreigners are permitted to purchase property according to pricing rules. In Jakarta, for example, foreigners can only purchase an apartment at a price limit of Rp 5 billion. (bbn)
