The Jakarta Post
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.
Popular Reads
Top Results
No results found. Please check your search term and try again
Can't find what you're looking for?
View all search results
Popular Reads
Top Results
No results found. Please check your search term and try again
Can't find what you're looking for?
View all search resultsIs Indonesia competitive as investment destination?
Foreign business actors who have been subject to antidumping duties will continue to transport their goods into the free-trade zones and free ports.
Change text size
Gift Premium Articles
to Anyone
Share the best of The Jakarta Post with friends, family, or colleagues. As a subscriber, you can gift 3 to 5 articles each month that anyone can read—no subscription needed!
Set as preferred source
Finance Minister Sri Mulyani Indrawati gives a speech at the Mandiri Investment Forum 2020 in Jakarta, Feb. 5, 2020.. (JP/Dhoni Setiawan )
The government has an obligation to maintain the competitiveness of the country as an investment destination. Recently, President Joko “Jokowi” Widodo signed the Job Creation Law. This effort must be continued by amending several laws and regulations that weaken the competitiveness of investing in Indonesia.
Many provisions have escaped the attention of the government when passing the Job Creation Law, including the obligation to provide an Indonesian translation of an agreement that is written in English based on the Law on Flag, Language, Emblem and the National Anthem.
Several years ago, due to the absence of an Indonesian translation of an agreement written in English, the Supreme Court invalidated a loan agreement for a foreign creditor. However, foreign investors are important as they can provide job opportunities in Indonesia.
Not only that, but the competitiveness in protecting foreign investors is also disrupted due to a trivial problem related to the elucidation of a government regulation. Government Regulation No. 10/2012 concerns the treatment of customs, taxation and excise, as well the procedure of insertion and release of goods from and to and in the area that has been established as a free-trade zone and free port.
In the elucidation of Article 14 of the government regulation, it is stated that "included in the definition of import duty are the antidumping duty, compensation duty, safeguard duty and countervailing duty”. The elucidation contained in Article 14 is very inaccurate as the imposition of antidumping duty, compensation duty, safeguard duty and countervailing duty (trade remedies) cannot be classified as an import duty.
Although it seems insignificant, in fact, this problem has disrupted the healthy competition in several industrial sectors, such as steel. Apart from that, this is also a special concern for foreign investors who have long invested business capital in this country.
