FRIDAY, March 29, 2024
nationthailand

Businesses pin hopes on streamlined, speedy licensing

Businesses pin hopes on streamlined, speedy licensing

FOR MANY Indonesians and those with experience running a business in the country, there is a big chance they see a similar picture in their head when they hear the word bureaucracy: Long queues and red tape, which can take weeks

However, Telkomtelstra president director Erik Meijer had the complete opposite experience during his recent visit to the Investment Coordinating Board’s (BKPM) one-stop integrated service (PTSP), during which he obtained two business permits in just two hours.
“[The BKPM] is like a very well-oiled engine. Everything works well,” Meijer said during a discussion at the board’s office in Jakarta on Thursday.
The speedy service was provided by the BKPM through its three hour-permit service reserved for investors planning to invest 100 billion rupiah (US$7.5 million) in a project or start a business that could employ more than 1,000 workers in industrial estates.
In an effort to spur economic growth, President Joko “Jokowi” Widodo has instructed government officials to make an all-out effort to streamline the country’s notoriously difficult bureaucracy to attract investment into Southeast Asia’s largest economy.
The three-hour service is one of the new services offered by the BKPM to lure in investors.
The BKPM claimed that the new service, introduced in October last year, had been “successful” in attracting investors. According to its latest data, there are 59 firms, including Telkomtelstra, that have used the service, with a total investment value of 137.5 trillion rupiah.
Meijer, appointed last year to lead Telkomtelstra, was so impressed with the BKPM’s service that he recorded his experience on tape and shared it on his Twitter account @emjkt, which has over 47,000 followers.
Telkom-Telstra is a joint venture between state-owned telecommunications company PT Telekomunikasi Indonesia and Australian telecommunications giant Telstra Corporation Limited. The venture was launched early last year with start-up capital of almost $10 million.
BKPM head of investment services Lestari Indah said the board would continue to innovate and introduce new schemes in order to boost Indonesia’s competitiveness. The BKPM this year aims for Rp 589 trillion in investment, a target that the board is confident it can achieve.
“We can no longer do ‘business as usual’ when we have such tough competition,” she said.
Local administrations have started to reform to complement the central government’s fast-paced policy.
Palembang Investment and One Stop Integrated Services Agency (BPM-PTSP) head Ratu Dewa, for example, said the South Sumatra city had introduced the seven-day service for 52 permits, including building permits. The agency had also designed a detailed map for investors seeking information on the city’s potential and its economic activity.
Palembang was among nine local governments recently congratulated by the BKPM for their excellent one-stop integrated services.
The government’s push for reform in bureaucracies, however, must be supported with proper capacity building, particularly at the local and regional administration level, which are struggling with human resources issues.
“With limited human resources capacity, many local administrations have actually found it hard to process and issue business permits within three days,” Institute for Development of Economics and Finance (Indef) analyst Bhima Yudhistira said recently.
Both local and foreign investors remain hopeful about the country’s business opportunities. The BKPM’s office in South Jakarta, for example, is always packed by businesspeople applying for business permits.
Thirty-two-year-old Suryo Pratama, who came to the office on Thursday to seek for permit for his goods transportation business, said although the BKPM’s services were now quicker, the same thing must be applied to other government institutions that issue supporting permits.
“A lack of coordination will bring the progress back to square one,” he said.

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