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View all search resultsNot China’s problem
Any impression that rules are enforced selectively or that crackdowns are politically motivated would be extremely detrimental to the country’s investment climate.
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Residential areas sprawl around the Indonesia Morowali Industrial Park (IMIP) in Bahodopi district, Morowali regency, Central Kalimantan, on Jan. 3, 2024. Most of the area’s residents work at the integrated nickel processing industrial zone. (Antara/Mohamad Hamzah)
“If you have a problem with that, then go look for minerals elsewhere.” That, in nutshell, is the government’s public response, for now at least, to a letter from the China Chamber of Commerce in Indonesia (CCCI), which complained about overly stringent regulations, heavy-handed enforcement and alleged extortion by authorities.
While Finance Minister Purbaya Yudhi Sadewa is known for snappy remarks that oscillate rather freely between quick-witted and flippant, this situation called for a more thought-out response.
The government would “prioritize national sovereignty over natural resources,” even if stricter policies drove foreign investors away, said the finance minister on Wednesday, as quoted by Kompas.com, adding that the minerals “are ours,” as if anyone had claimed otherwise.
The letter was not addressed to Purbaya, but to President Prabowo Subianto, and the job of patching things up with Beijing now rests in the hands of the President.
One would hope the subject of the letter is being discussed right now with the Chinese side and that the complaints are being taken more seriously behind the scenes than implied by the minister’s facetious response.
The fact that such remarks are quite in character for Purbaya may help the CCCI take no offense, but the concrete points made nevertheless require a proper follow-up, in word and deed.
The CCCI is not the only foreign business community to have raised some of the points mentioned, which are not about Chinese investment specifically but more generally concern Indonesia’s regulations, law enforcement and business climate. The local business community has conveyed similar complaints to the government.
