The Minister Of Investment Is Not An Ordinary Person, But Must Be Smart In Mining Capital

JAKARTA - Political communication observer Emrus Sihombing highlighted President Joko Widodo's idea to form the Ministry of Investment.

Apart from being strategic, the Ministry of Investments is also very vital in ensuring the availability of capital to accelerate development to awaken and improve the welfare of the Indonesian people from the sluggish economy as a result of the COVID-19 pandemic.

At least, said Emrus, there were two main duties and functions of the Meninvest in the remainder of Jokowi's administration in this second period. First, certainty of provision of capital and inflow of investment for the development of the two development sectors. Primarily in 5 Super Priority Projects and National Strategic Projects (PSN).

The five Super Priority Projects (SP) are Lake Toba, Borobudur, Lombok-Mandalika, Labuan Bajo, and Manado-Likupang.

"The budget plan disbursed for the project can reach tens of trillions of rupiah. Can the funds be met? Or can the project after the infrastructure is built by the government will bring in investment? Still a big question mark that must be answered by the Minister of Investments, before accepting the position it is from the President, "Emrus said in his statement to VOI, Wednesday, April 21.

For PSN affairs, continued Emrus, the budget allocation for development, which is not small, could reach hundreds, maybe even bigger.

"Before and after they are built, can the Minister of Investments be able to promote these projects to bring in investment? This must be answered to the public shortly after being inaugurated by the President as Meninvest," he said.

Second, he continued, can "mine" capital by modernizing the capital market (stock exchange) and the futures market (future exchange).

If examined deeply, Emrus believes, there are still many problems in managing the capital market in the country which are a tough challenge for the new Meninvest to resolve.

"If the new Meninvest does not have qualified experience in the capital market, for example, it will be very difficult to 'mine' funds from the public, both from within and outside the country," Emrus said.

Likewise with the futures market whose management still requires very, very serious attention from a Meninvest.

"The critical question is whether the new Meninvest has had a precise strategy that makes the futures market grow rapidly and is large. As a 'challenging' question to Meninvest, isn't the Indonesian futures market far behind with Malaysia?" He asked.

Therefore, according to Emrus, Meninvest must be an extraordinary person. Can think and act out of the box, and must be different from ordinary ministers.

"Don't get a ministerial seat," he said.

The Director of the EmrusCorner Institute reminded that Meninvest should not only be seen from the point of view of success in the business field, having certain assets, and moreover being driven by the image of successful teams. But the most important thing is to have a strategy of leadership, management, persuasion communication to convince all stakeholders, not only investors and potential investors.

This is because, added Emrus, the entry of capital into the country is determined by a number of variables. Among other things, legal certainty in various fields and guaranteed rights of every individual in our country.

"We suggest to the President that the prerogative is to determine the Minister of Investment through a position auction process by forming an independent committee," Emrus said.