Observer: Indonesia Will Be Difficult To Withdraw Investments If There Are Still Obstacles To Mass Organizations And Policies

JAKARTA - Indonesia has signed 12 collaborations between Indonesia and China after President Prabowo Subianto received an official visit from the Prime Minister of the People's Republic of China, Li Qiang, at the Merdeka Palace, Central Jakarta, Sunday, May 25. With this collaboration, it is hoped that more investment from China will enter Indonesia.

Just so you know, the presence of Prime Minister Li Qiang also carries the prospect of concrete cooperation, including investment implementation of 10 billion US dollars or equivalent to Rp. 162 trillion (assuming an exchange rate of Rp. 16,200 per US dollar).

Some of them are in the transportation sector, industrial clusters, mineral downstream, to the chemical industry. These projects involve collaboration of private companies, state-owned enterprises (BUMN), and foreign partners.

However, the efforts of the Prabowo Government are predicted to be difficult to occur, if they have not resolved the investment barriers in Indonesia.

Mining and Energy Observer, Ferdy Hasiman said, as long as the investment problems faced by investors such as disturbances to community organizations (Ormas)/Social Organizations (NGOs) and unclear licensing regulations make investment difficult to realize in Indonesia.

"It's useless for President Prabowo to visit the country to convince investors, if they don't fix the bureaucracy and rules of investment in this country. Because they (investors) want Indonesia to be investor friendly, lazy and rowdy. For this reason, egos between sectors of ministries and the presence of mass organizations or NGOs must be eliminated to pursue the achievement of Asta Cita," he said in his statement, quoted Monday, June 2.

The problem of disturbances in mass organizations/NGOs has been faced by several companies/investors in Indonesia, such as the pressure of mass organizations on automotive companies, BYD in Subang, the burglary of tenders by Kadin members to Chengda Engineering Co, contractors from the National Strategic Project (PSN) in Cilegon, Banten, the problem of nickel managed by Indonesia Morowali Industrial Park (IMIP) in Central Sulawesi to the AMDAL problems faced by PT Dairi Prima Mineral (DPM) in Dairi, North Sumatra.

The researcher from Alpha Research Database Indonesia asked the government to be more serious in resolving investment barriers, especially for Chinese investors.

"The government must be more assertive in resolving the problems faced by business actors from China, especially since China is one of the largest investment origin countries in Indonesia," he explained.

Based on BKPM data, the value of mainland Chinese investment in Indonesia is US$8.1 billion during 2024. Meanwhile, the accumulation of mainland Chinese investment into Indonesia since 2019 has reached US$36.4 billion.

He added, do not let the problems faced by investors cannot be resolved, thus making them afraid to invest in Indonesia. In addition, it is necessary that regulations that can truly benefit together, between the government and investors.

"Since the time of President Jokowi until now, the elite has often played with the laws and rules only for their benefit. So the rules that have been made must be beneficial for many parties, including investors. Don't be a long-winded regulation and bureaucracy that makes investors rethink investing in Indonesia," he concluded.