he Indonesian government's efforts to attract Chinese investors to a number of new strategic sectors hit obstacles in the form of policies restricting imports of raw materials. As this restrictions are considered detrimental for the industry, hence, measurable reforms in the trade sector are needed to attract more investment and develop new sources of growth. Deputy Secretary General of the Chinese Committee of the Indonesian Chamber of Commerce and Industry (KADIN) Rahmad Widjaja Sakti, said on Tuesday (14/5), one of the issues that investors from China often complain about is the policy of a restriction on raw materials and strategic industrial components, while the domestic supply of raw materials is often minimal due to the lack of sufficient production volume. According to him, this policy could backfire and hamper the government's efforts to find new sources of growth, such as the digital economy, which in fact is very dependent on the progress of the domestic electronics industry. KADIN discussed with the Chinese Chamber of Commerce and Industry on how to ensure that businesses do not have difficulty importing raw materials. Certain commodities, such as optical fibre, cannot all be produced by Indonesian domestic, he said on the sidelines of the "Indonesia-China Investment Promotion" seminar held by the Ministry of Investment in Jakarta. He added, if the government is concerned about illegal imports and resale of raw materials, then it needs to be improved is supervision, instead of an import restriction that is applied to all companies. The Director General of the Asian Affairs Department of the PRC’s Ministry of Commerce of China, Wang Liping, said that in recent years, Chinese investors have been more enthusiastic about investing in Indonesia. However, they often still experience difficulties when dealing with local investment policies. Although investment policies and climate in Indonesia have improved a lot recently, but much still needed to be done to increase investment cooperation between Indonesia and China. Over the last five years, China has been ranked among the top five major foreign investors in Indonesia. The Ministry of Investment recorded that the accumulated value of Chinese investment in Indonesia has reached USD 30.2 billion from 2019 to the first quarter of 2024. During the period, 21,022 cooperation Chinese projects were recorded in Indonesia, most of which occurred in the mining processing, transportation, warehousing, electricity, gas, water, chemistry, pharmacy, as well as property and offices. (ICE GIACARTA)

Fonte notizia: Indonesia Trade and Economy Weekly, 17 May 2024