Luhut Wants To Speed Up The Ratification Of The Omnibus Law On Job Creation, Pursue Investments From China

Coordinating Minister for Maritime Affairs and Investment Luhut Binsar Pandjaitan. (Irfan Meidianto / VOI)

JAKARTA - The Coordinating Minister for Maritime Affairs and Investment Luhut Binsar Pandjaitan said the government has a strategy to increase investment amid the COVID-19 pandemic. One of them, with the ratification of the Omnibus Law on the Job Creation Bill.

According to Luhut, the Omnibus Law is the key to making investment easier. The main thing, said Luhut, is in terms of simplifying licensing to special economic zones.

"We encourage the ratification of the Omnibus Law and support businesses and communities affected by COVID-19," he said, in a written statement received by VOI, Friday, October 2.

Luhut said another strategy that the government has to boost investment is to improve infrastructure. He also ensured that the government would continue to focus on developing this sector.

Furthermore, Luhut said, the COVID-19 pandemic that hit the world, including Indonesia, did not only cause a high death rate. However, it also has a negative impact on the economic sector.

"The pandemic has caused people's purchasing power to decline, thus affecting consumption," he said.

The bad conditions caused by the pandemic, said Luhut, required the government to increase economic growth from government spending and increase investment. Currently, a number of countries have recorded significant investments in Indonesia. These countries are China, United Arab Emirates, Saudi Arabia, Africa, to several western countries.

In fact, Luhut said, on January 12, the government had signed a memorandum of understanding of US $ 22.8 billion with the United Arab Emirates. The details of the cooperation, he continued, were for the development of sustainable energy, sharing the vision of green growth as a way to transform energy security into sustainable energy and supporting the original values of Islam in encouraging tolerance and several others.

"In 2019, foreign investment companies (PMA) from Islamic countries were dominated by the United Arab Emirates at 69.7 percent," he said.

Most recently, Indonesia and a company from the United Arab Emirates are also working together to produce the COVID-19 vaccine.

"They are UAE committed to providing 10 million doses for Indonesia and to carry out wider cooperation for pharmaceutical production in the markets of the Middle East, Africa and several other countries," he said.

Meanwhile, the Indonesian Ambassador to Abu Dhabi Husin Bagis said the obstacles for a number of countries to invest in Indonesia were related to the issue of a clean and clear agreement.

Husin said, there are 57 countries that are predominantly Muslim but only a few Muslim countries are rich. Like Saudi Arabia which can produce 12 million barrels of oil, Abu Dhabi has 14 million barrels. Rich countries, he said, would invest in countries that were easy to bureaucracy and attractive.

"They are less interested in investing in Indonesia because we don't have a project that can offer a clean and clear agreement," he said.