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.
More powerful Luhut to lead fundraising efforts amid weak investment
Twenty-five investment projects worth US$70 billion to $80 billion were in the pipeline for the next five years, added the 72-year-old retired Army general.
Change Size
Luhut, one of Jokowi’s most trusted assistants, is well-known for his no-nonsense management that gets things done, even at the risk of stepping on other ministers’ toes, as long as the action is in line with the government’s policies. (JP/Seto Wardhana)
P
resident Joko “Jokowi” Widodo’s decision to give additional authority to Coordinating Maritime Affairs and Investment Minister Luhut Pandjaitan is expected to speed up infrastructure projects and fundraising efforts at a time when weak investment is weighing on economic growth.
Presidential Regulation (Perpres) No. 71/2019, signed on Oct. 24, expands Luhut’s coordinating role to encompass the Public Works and Housing Ministry, the Environment and Forestry Ministry and the Investment Coordinating Board (BKPM), all of which were previously the responsibility of Coordinating Economic Minister Airlangga Hartato. The new regulation replaces a 2015 Perpres on the office of the coordinating maritime affairs minister.
“We will handle the execution of macroeconomic policy, such as generating exports and replacing imports as well as attracting investment, while the [Office of the Coordinating Economic Minister] will handle macroeconomic policy,” said Luhut when asked about the new regulation in Jakarta on Wednesday.
With the additional three institutions, Luhut’s office now oversees the BKPM and six ministries, including energy and mining, transportation, tourism and the creative economy, as well as maritime and fisheries. The office is also bestowed with the authority to settle unresolved issues among ministries or other state institutions to ensure government policies are enforced.
Twenty-five investment projects worth US$70 billion to $80 billion were in the pipeline for the next five years, added the 72-year-old retired Army general.
Investment has been touted as a top priority for Jokowi to boost economic growth, which has slowed to the lowest rate in more than two years as of the third quarter, hit by a global economic slowdown driven by the US-China trade war.
