Following a Cabinet meeting with President Joko “Jokowi” Widodo on Monday, Tourism and Creative Economy Minister Sandiaga Uno told reporters that the golden visa could be a “game changer” in Indonesia’s efforts to attract more foreign workers and investments, which in turn is hoped to create more job opportunities.

“The golden visa is a new policy that we will soon launch to attract quality talents in the field of digitalization, health, research and technology,” Sandiaga said. “[The policy] will be a game changer that will bring in more foreigners, including digital nomads and entrepreneurs, to invest in Indonesia.”

He said under the golden visa program, foreigners could be granted a permit to stay of up to 10 years, although the technical details of the policy remain unclear as they are still being hashed out with the Law and Human Rights Ministry’s Immigration Directorate General.

“We hope this will make Indonesia the epicenter of economic growth going forward, while also [making Indonesia the epicenter] for sustainable [development], since we are the largest archipelagic country with the ability to absorb very large carbon emissions.”

The golden visa program is mainly a scheme to permit residency by investment, according to the Cabinet Secretariat website in April, which will possibly grant foreigners a longer stay, streamlined immigration service, eligibility to purchase assets in Indonesia and a fast-track route for citizenship.

Worldwide, over 60 countries have applied a similar scheme, with smaller countries like Saint Kitts and Nevis setting their investment prices from US$150,000 to larger nations like the United States at $1.05 million.

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