JAKARTA - Indonesia must provide the same easy doing business if it wants to be like Singapore, said the Indonesian Ambassador to Singapore Suryopratomo, emphasizing the importance of trust in investment.
Speaking at the launch of the book "The Next Chapter: Envisioning the Future of Indonesia-Singapore Relations", Ambassador Tommy, as he is affectionately called, said it was important to encourage investment ease and clarity in Indonesia.
He explained that the reason why people like to invest in Singapore is because of the "clarity of rules, clear enforcement of laws, ease in all things", including capitalizing which is very easy to do in Singapore.
"If we want to be like Singapore, Indonesia must be able to provide or implement the same easy doing business as Singapore," said Ambassador Tommy to the media, Wednesday (17/12).
Furthermore, he explained, there is currently one industrial area in Kendal, Central Java, which has been allocated exclusively for Singapore since 2016.
"That 2,000 hectares is full. In fact, then the Kendal Industrial Park will be expanded by another 2,000 hectares. So the space for investment from Singapore is very large," he said.
He explained that when President Prabowo Subianto visited the Lion Country (16/6), President Tharman Shanmugaratnam said that Singapore had been the largest investor for Indonesia for a decade.
"One-third of Singapore's FDI (Foreign Direct Investment) is invested in Indonesia," he said, quoting President Tharman's words to President Prabowo.
Ambassador Tommy said that Indonesia and Singapore would always be neighbors, so it was important to trust and complement each other.
"Because, for Singapore, Indonesia is not a rival. Indonesian-Singapore relations complement each other. Now, how do we deal with it. Complementing each other is basically trust, personal relationships are far beyond formal relationships. Well, that's what we maintain," he said.
According to him, if Indonesia and Singapore only compete, without ever cooperating, they will eventually only win-lose.
"In fact, there are efforts or things that we can synergize, collaborate, which are win-win for both countries," he explained.
He then gave an example of a company from China investing in Indonesia, but entering through Singapore.
"Then, if we don't want it, we want it directly from China to Indonesia," he explained.
"If we never agree, never want to understand each other, the investment will be finished, it will never happen," he said, highlighting the loss of investment opportunities.
Ambassador Tommy said that investment confidence in Singapore was generated by "what is said is the same as what is done," so people believe.
"The United States' investment in Singapore, a small country, has no natural resources, but US investment reaches 350 billion US dollars," he explained.
"Meanwhile, foreign investment into Indonesia, from all countries, is only around 100 billion US dollars," he added.
"What is the difference? Trust. If you don't trust, can you force it? no," he said.
The English, Chinese, Japanese, Arabic, and French versions are automatically generated by the AI. So there may still be inaccuracies in translating, please always see Indonesian as our main language. (system supported by DigitalSiber.id)
