Investment Trend Moves To Malaysia, Member Of Commission VI Of The PDIP Faction Asks Bahlil To Lobby South Korea And Japan

Member of Commission VI DPR RI Evita Nursanty. (Photo: Screenshot of the DPR Working Meeting with the Ministry of Investment)

JAKARTA - Member of Commission VI of the Indonesian House of Representatives Evita Nursanty said there was a trend of investment relocation due to the COVID-19 pandemic to Malaysia. Therefore, he asked the Minister of Investment/Head of the Investment Coordinating Board (BKPM) Bahlil Lahadalia to lobby South Korea and Japan to increase their investment in the country.

Evita said that South Korea and Japan currently have invested in Malaysia with a fairly large nominal. According to him, the government should take advantage of this opportunity to get more investment into Indonesia.

"So in the future Pak Bahlil must do what is called a road show out, especially to South Korea and Japan. Lobbying needs to be done so that our investment is not taken by other countries," he said in a working meeting (Raker) with the Ministry of Investment, at Gedung Parliament, Senayan, Jakarta, Tuesday, June 8.

Furthermore, Evita said that the board members appreciated the performance of the Ministry of Investment, which achieved investment realization above the target set this year. However, according to him, there are still efforts that need to be evaluated again. One of them is the evaluation of cooperation with big countries.

According to Evita, the government has made many international agreements with various countries from America, Europe, Asia and Africa. Meanwhile, investment from countries that have cooperated economically is still not optimal.

"From what we read, we know that the largest incoming investment is from Singapore. Singapore is also a question from the government investing or the private sector, right, this is a question," he said.

Meanwhile, the Minister of Investment/Head of BKPM Bahlil Lahadalia explained, his party will continue to try to attract investment from abroad, both countries that have established economic cooperation and countries that have not cooperated. The first step that will be taken is to make it easier for permits to be given to investors.

As is known, licensing problems have always occurred in the last few years so that many investments have stalled. According to Bahlil, investment opportunities are wide open when the Job Creation Law has been approved and makes business certainty more guaranteed by the government.

"This is a portrait of a bureaucratic system in our country that is loved together. The next question is, who do we blame? I don't think we need to blame anyone, but let's start a new veil," he explained.

For your information, based on the BKPM report, investment realization in the first quarter of 2021 was IDR 219.7 trillion or grew 2.3 percent on a quarterly basis or quarter to quarter (qtq) and 4.3 percent on an annual basis or year on year (yoy). The investment is able to absorb 311,783 workers.

The details are foreign investment of IDR 111.7 trillion or growing 0.6 percent qtq and 14 percent yoy. Meanwhile, domestic investment of IDR 108 trillion grew 4.2 percent qtq and decreased 4 percent yoy.