Indonesia Investments Report - January 2021 Edition: COVID-19 Crisis to Linger On?
Update COVID-19 in Indonesia: 1,298,608 confirmed infections, 35,014 deaths (23 February 2021)
23 February 2021 (closed)
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Below is a list with tagged columns and company profiles.
Today's Headlines Investment Climate
On Monday 19 October 2020 Indonesia Investments released a new report, titled 'Introduction Omnibus Job Creation Law'. This report discusses the contents and consequences of the recently approved Omnibus Law as well as its controversial aspects (especially for workers and the environment).
For the past couple of months we have frequently heard President Joko Widodo and other top government officials refer to the upcoming omnibus laws as key tools or solutions to improve the quality and attractiveness of Indonesia’s investment environment.
The economy of Indonesia expanded by 5.02 percent year-on-year (y/y) in the third quarter of 2019. Although the pace was in line with expectations, it does lead to a more gloomy outlook than we had before.
For the past couple of years we have often heard high government officials in Indonesia say that the country’s corporate income tax (in Indonesian: Pajak Penghasilan Badan, or PPh badan) is planned to be cut in an effort to attract more direct investment.
Per 2 January 2019 operations of the online single submission (OSS) system are transferred from the Coordinating Ministry of Economic Affairs to the Indonesia Investment Coordinating Board (BKPM).
Last week, the Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development (OECD) released its Corporate Tax Statistics report. Several interesting conclusions were made in the report. Firstly, (corporate) taxes that are paid by legal entities (specifically companies) remain a key source of government revenues, particularly in developing nations. Secondly, over the past two decades there is a clear worldwide trend visible, namely: falling corporate tax rates.
The Indonesian government launched the One Map Policy Geoportal (KSP Geoportal). This policy involves a more detailed map of land use, hence aiming at resolving overlapping claims - as well as preventing the emergence of new cases - across the country, including in forest areas. The map was launched by Indonesian President Joko Widodo on Tuesday (11/12).
The Indonesian government plans to allow an earlier submission of a request for the extension of mining concessions. Stakeholders say that this would considerably strengthen the investment climate in Indonesia's mining sector, specifically the coal mining industry, on the back of improved legal certainty.
Entering the second quarter of 2018 chief executive officers (CEOs) have become less optimistic about the Indonesian economy and politics. This should be no surprise considering there have emerged significant concerns about a looming global trade war (with the USA and China as main actors), while further monetary tightening in the USA has been putting pressure on the Indonesian rupiah.
The Indonesian government said it will take a number of steps to tackle several classic problems that obstruct investment realization in the country. Based on internal research, the government counted a total of 190 cases where investors' investment commitment failed to be realized between 2010 and 2017. This led to an estimated IDR 351.2 trillion (approx. USD $26.2 billion) in missed domestic direct investment and USD $54.6 billion in missed foreign direct investment.
Latest Columns Investment Climate
The past year has been hectic. The global COVID-19 pandemic arrived, a worldwide recession followed; US-China turmoil continued, while geopolitical and geo-economic tensions are rising across the world. And all these matters seem interrelated. So, how is Indonesia doing amid these developments? And, how do they exactly impact on Indonesia's economy and society? It is time to sit down with Indonesia Investments' Managing Director Richard van der Schaar to hear his thoughts on these matters.
Whenever Indonesia Investments discusses or illustrates the risks that are involved in Indonesia’s investment environment, we usually take the 2009 Mining Law as an example to illustrate the lack of legal certainty in Indonesia. Lack of legal certainty is one the key obstacles in Indonesia’s investment environment, and has therefore been undermining investment realization in Indonesia.
“Indonesia’s economic potential is unquestioned. The nation of 265 million people has all the ingredients to be a major global player. But converting the potential into business opportunities and success is not a straight path. The Indonesia Economic Forum is the perfect platform to build relationships, gain insights and recalibrate business strategies for building a successful enterprise.”
Discussing minimum wages is always a sensitive issue. Workers long for rapid growth of their monthly wages as many of them encounter difficulties in making ends meet in their daily lives. In fact, those whose salaries are close to the minimum wage tend to be near-poor and uneducated, particularly in developing nations such as Indonesia, and therefore both their present conditions and their future perspectives are far from bright.
On Wednesday 26 September 2018 the local Jakarta administration decided to revoke private developers’ principle permits for the development of 13 artificial islands (reclaimed islands) in the bay north of Indonesia's capital city of Jakarta. The decision was hardly a surprise. After Anies Baswedan was elected Governor of Jakarta in 2017 it was assumed that the end of the grand project was near.
There is concern that the Indonesian government's plan to curb price increases of (non-subsidized) fuels in Indonesia will impact negatively on private investors' enthusiasm to invest in Indonesia's oil and gas industry. Earlier this week Arcandra Tahar, Deputy Minister at the Energy and Mineral Resources Ministry, informed that the government wants to regulate prices of fuels in order to keep inflation in check.
One of Indonesia's biggest diversified conglomerates, the Lippo Group, topped off two apartment towers for its ambitious and controversial Meikarta megaproject on Sunday (29/10). The topping off ceremony is a sign that - despite some legal uncertainties - the project will continue as planned and not face the same fate as the land reclamation project in the bay off the coast of North Jakarta.
Again, oil and gas contractors in Indonesia urge the government to clean up bureaucracy (red tape) in this sector in order to make the investment climate more attractive, and hence trigger more (much-needed) investment in Indonesia's oil and gas industry.
Indonesian President Joko Widodo unveiled the 16th economic policy package on Thursday morning (31/08) at the Indonesia stock Exchange building in Jakarta. This latest package aims to create an integrated licensing system. It also deals with strict supervision for the transition from the manual licensing system to an online system.
It is worrying that of total foreign investment commitments in Indonesia, only about 50 percent becomes actual investment. The other half decides - after initially being interested - not to pursue investment in Indonesia. Although not in all cases, it is believed that Indonesia's difficult investment climate scares away part of the (potential) investment community, specifically bureaucracy (red tape) and the lack of sufficient hard and soft infrastructure.
