The presence of ‘something foreign’ in Indonesia is often still a somewhat sensitive issue. And, we would not be surprised if it is the country’s prolonged colonial period – when foreign forces (particularly the Dutch) came to the Archipelago in search of commodities – that brings back traumatic memories from the past. This history may thus also explain why Indonesia – today – shows a relatively high degree of economic nationalism and resource nationalism.

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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).

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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.

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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.

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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.

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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).

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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.

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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).

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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.

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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.

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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.

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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.

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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.

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The future of the ambitious land reclamation project in the bay of Indonesia's capital city of Jakarta is highly uncertain now Anies Baswedan has been elected as next Jakarta governor. Baswedan and his running mate Sandiago Uno have repeatedly expressed their objection to the reclamation project, while defeated Jakarta governor Basuki Tjahaja Purnama (Ahok) was a major supporter of the project.

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Although the Indonesian government has been eager to improve the nation's investment climate in a bid to attract more foreign direct investment (FDI) and thus boost economic growth of Indonesia, it is widely known that conditions in Indonesia's investment climate remain somewhat troublesome, reflected by the nation's mediocre ranking in the World Bank's Ease of Doing Business index 2017. Here it ranks 91 out of 190 countries across the globe.

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A survey conducted by the Economist Corporate Network (ECN), published on Tuesday (17/01), shows that Indonesia is among Asia's most attractive investment destinations due to the combination of strengthening consumer demand and improvements in the nation's investment and business climate (a positive result of the government's reform efforts). In this survey, titled "Navigating Asia's Risks and Rewards: Asia Business Outlook Survey 2017", a total of 223 Asia-based business executives were asked about their business performance and expectations for the year ahead.

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According to the latest data from Indonesia's Investment Coordinating Board (BKPM), investment realization (consisting of both foreign and domestic direct investment) in Indonesia grew 10.7 percent (y/y) to IDR 155.3 trillion in the third quarter of 2016. Cumulatively, investment realization in Indonesia stands at 453.4 trillion in the first nine months of 2016, achieving about 76 percent of the full-year target (IDR 594.8 trillion). Most likely, the BKPM's full-year target will be achieved.

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There is few interest from the private sector to participate in Indonesia's oil & gas block tenders. Besides Indonesia's unconducive investment climate (that includes weak government management, bureaucracy, an unclear regulatory framework and legal uncertainty), low global petroleum prices have also managed to curb investors' enthusiasm. In a bid to entice private investors the Indonesian government has decided to change the concept for oil & gas tenders in 2016 from a fixed revenue split to an open bid split scheme.

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It is estimated that Indonesia will need some USD $450 billion in funds to finance the government's infrastructure development plans for the 2015-2019 period. However, through the state budgets the government can only deliver USD $230 billion, or roughly 50 percent of required funds. The remainder should originate from the private sector (30 percent of total funds) and state-controlled enterprises (20 percent). However, is it likely that the private sector (both foreign and domestic) is to come up with USD $141 billion for investment in infrastructure up to 2019?

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Infrastructure development and deregulation are the two main recipes used by the Indonesian government - under the leadership of Joko Widodo - to attract investment. By making it easier and cheaper to obtain permits and by providing better infrastructure (implying investors need to invest less in additional infrastructure facilities while logistic costs ease) Indonesia's investment climate improves. As such, the ease of doing business in Indonesia will improve accordingly. However, good coordination and cooperation between the central and regional governments is required.

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