JAKARTA – Indonesian Deputy Minister of Foreign Affairs Arif Havas Oegroseno stated that investments, trade, and international economic relations are part of Indonesia’s diplomatic portfolio, with representatives abroad playing an important role in facilitating investments. This statement was made by Minister Havas during an international seminar on debottlenecking channels jointly organized by the Ministry of Coordination of Economic Affairs, the Ministry of Finance, the Ministry of Foreign Affairs, and the Government Program Speed Team 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 address, Finance Minister 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 rule enforcement 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 strengthened with more practical and transparent mechanisms. This is important to maintain investor confidence in establishing businesses and investments in Indonesia.
“The creation of 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 improvements directly address the real issues faced by businesses.
“I heard directly from the private sector what their problems were, and we solved them. Ultimately, we will also improve existing regulations based on needs. In my opinion, this is a better approach that will yield faster and more real results, as we are addressing the real issues that the business world in this country is facing,” he explained.
Meanwhile, Foreign Minister Havas highlighted the importance of strengthening Indonesian economic diplomacy to support increased national investments. He emphasized the dynamics of the current global economy, including the phenomenon of weaponization 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 facilitation, 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 of creating a more transparent, inclusive, and responsive investment process to investor needs. Foreign Minister Havas affirmed that investment, trade, and international economic relations issues have become an important part of Indonesia’s diplomatic portfolio and have also influenced various international negotiation processes.
In addition, the existence of the task force is seen as being able to bring real benefits to all representatives of the Republic of Indonesia abroad in identifying, monitoring, and tracking investment potentials from various countries.
It is hoped that the discussions held during the seminar will strengthen the capacity of representatives of the Republic of Indonesia to identify potential investment movements more targeted and coordinated.
During the subsequent session, the seminar was filled with a panel discussion involving the Vice Minister of the Economy of the Cabinet of the Secretary-General Satya Bhakti Parikesit, the Chief of Foreign Policy Strategy at the Ministry of Foreign Affairs Muhammad Takdir, as well as the special staff of the Finance Minister in charge of industry and environmental economy Michael Goutama, who acted as the moderator. The discussion addressed various strategic subjects, ranging from business permit reform, taxation and customs, logistics and infrastructure, energy access, to strengthening inter-ministerial/inter-institutional coordination mechanisms to support investment facilitation and business security.
By this initiative, the Indonesian government has affirmed its commitment to continue strengthening investment facilitation, improving regulatory certainty, and enhancing 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 and 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 accelerated realization of investments 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 permits to regulations, taxation, logistics, infrastructure, and intersectoral coordination with ministries/institutions and local governments through the debottlenecking channel. It also confirms Indonesia’s commitment to reform the investment climate and strengthen legal certainty.
