JAKARTA – The Indonesian Vice Minister of Foreign Affairs, Arif Havas Oegroseno, stated that investments, trade, and international economic relations are an integral part of Indonesian diplomacy, with representatives abroad playing a significant role in facilitating investments. This was mentioned by Minister Havas during an international seminar on debottlenecking channels organized jointly by the Ministry of Coordination of Economic Affairs, the Ministry of Finance, the Ministry of Foreign Affairs, and the Working Group on the speed of the Government Program to support economic growth (Satgas P3-MPPE) held under the theme “Resolving Bottleneck, Accelerating Investment” at the Dhanapala Building, Ministry of Finance, Jakarta, on Tuesday (12/5).
In his keynote speech, Finance Minister (Menkeu) Purbaya Yudhi Sadewa revealed that to achieve stronger economic growth, Indonesia must increase investments and private sector participation in the economy. “Therefore, a more favorable business climate, credible investment policies, a strong legal framework, and consistent enforcement of rules are key to increasing private sector participation in Indonesia,” said the Finance Minister, as reported by the Indonesian Ministry of Foreign Affairs on Wednesday, May 13.
However, the implementation of these various aspects still needs to be reinforced by more practical and transparent mechanisms. This is important to maintain investor confidence in setting up businesses and investments in Indonesia. “Establishing a debottlenecking channel is a practical approach to realizing this condition,” he explained.
The Finance Minister believes that the debottlenecking channel mechanism is more effective in restoring investment climate because regulatory improvement directly addresses the real problems faced by businesses. “I heard directly from the private sector what their problem was, and we solved it. Ultimately, we will also improve existing regulations as needed. In my opinion, this is a better approach that will yield faster and more real results, as we address the real issues that the business world in this country is facing,” he explained.
Meanwhile, Foreign Minister Havas emphasized the importance of strengthening Indonesian economic diplomacy to support increased national investments. He highlighted the current dynamics of the global economy, including the phenomenon of economization of economic relations, which requires countries to be more adaptive and strategic in maintaining their economic competitiveness.
According to him, Indonesia is currently competing not only in terms of land, tax incentives, and investment facilities, but also in terms of trust, capacity, efficiency, resilience, legal certainty, and reliable and sustainable investment strategies.
In this context, debottlenecking efforts are an important aspect to create a more transparent, inclusive, and responsive investment process to investor needs. Foreign Minister Havas affirmed that investment, trade, and international economic relations have become an important part of the Indonesian diplomacy portfolio and have also colored various international negotiation processes.
In this context, the role of Indonesian representatives abroad is crucial in facilitating investments, both towards Indonesia (domestic investment) and from Indonesia (foreign investment), including receiving complaints regarding investment obstacles and facilitating investment problem resolutions.
Additionally, the existence of the working group is seen as potentially beneficial to all Indonesian representatives abroad in identifying, monitoring, and tracking investment potentials from various countries.
It is hoped that the discussions held during the seminar will strengthen the ability of Indonesian representatives abroad to identify potential investment movements in a more targeted and coordinated manner.
During the next session, the seminar was filled with a panel discussion with the participation of the Vice Minister of the Economy of the General Secretary’s Cabinet Satya Bhakti Parikesit, the Chief of Foreign Policy Strategy of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs Muhammad Takdir, as well as special staff from the Ministry of Finance responsible for industry and environmental economy Michael Goutama who acted as the moderator. The discussion covered various strategic topics, ranging from business licensing reforms, taxation and customs, logistics and infrastructure, energy access, to strengthening inter-ministerial/inter-agency coordination mechanisms to support investment facilitation and business security.
Through this initiative, the Indonesian government has affirmed its commitment to further strengthen investment facilitation, improve regulatory security, and strengthen the partnership between the government and the business world to support sustainable and inclusive economic growth. Participants in the seminar included representatives from embassies and foreign diplomatic missions, chambers of commerce, business associations, investors, as well as national and international media.
It is known that this seminar is part of the government’s efforts to continue encouraging the acceleration of investment realization by simplifying business processes and effectively, practically, and transparently resolving various investment obstacles.
This seminar aims to introduce more widely the mechanism for addressing investment and business obstacles, which includes resolving various obstacles, from authorizations, regulations, taxation, logistics, infrastructure, to intersectoral coordination and cooperation between ministries/institutions and local governments through the debottlenecking channel. It also confirms Indonesia’s commitment to reforming the investment climate and strengthening legal certainty.
