Not Wanting To Rely Solely On The State Budget, Jokowi Asks For 'help' The Regents To Target Investment

President of the Republic of Indonesia, Joko Widodo. (Photo: Doc. Setkab)

JAKARTA - President Joko Widodo (Jokowi) asked the regents to provide maximum service to investors who come to their respective regions. According to him, only investment and exports can be an economic lever during the COVID-19 pandemic.

"If there are factories that export, export SMEs, please encourage them, provide assistance. If there is investment coming in your district, ladies and gentlemen, please be served as well as possible," said Jokowi when he opened the National Conference V of the Association of Indonesian Regency Governments (Apkasi) at State Palace, Jakarta, Friday, 26 March.

The former governor of DKI Jakarta said that the Investment Coordinating Board (BKPM) had made efforts to simplify the investment licensing process through Online Single Submission (OSS). Therefore, he hopes that these efforts will also be supported by services in the regions.

"Because the keys to our economy are in the two previously mentioned, investment and export. Because the APBN is limited, the APBN will not increase by more than 5 percent. The APBN will only increase very slightly, it is very limited," he said.

Furthermore, Jokowi said that investment and exports could boost economic growth at this time. Because of that, he said, the government formed a universal sweep of the Job Creation Law in order to facilitate the investment process in the country.

"Because of that the Job Creation Law, all government regulations have been enacted which makes it very easy for entrepreneurs to open investment and job opportunities. Provide the best possible service," he said.

Previously, Jokowi said that acceleration was the key to recovering the domestic economy. However, it must be accompanied by 'brake and gas' in normalizing community activities. This is to anticipate a surge in COVID-19 cases.

If he does not balance the brakes and gas in restoring the economy, Jokowi admits that he is worried that it will have an impact on the increase in COVID-19 cases such as what happened in India.

"Be careful, why I told you at the beginning, India has dropped down, up now, up and jumping. Europe's 3rd wave has dropped, jumped again 3-4 times," he explained.