VOI - Voice of Indonesia | RRI - Radio Republik Indonesia

Coordinating Minister for Maritime Affairs and Investment Luhut Binsar Pandjaitan said that the government will reform its policy through the Omnibus Law to attract more investment to Indonesia.

"We are pushing for the ratification of the Omnibus Law and supporting businesses and communities affected by Covid-19," he said in a written statement in Jakarta, Friday.

Luhut conveyed this when he was the Speaker of the National Webinar on Investment in Islamic Countries in Indonesia in Jakarta, Thursday.

According to Luhut, the Covid-19 pandemic that has hit Indonesia since last March has not only caused death but also had a negative impact on the economic sector. Therefore, investment is one of the needed boosters for economic growth.

"The pandemic will cause people's purchasing power to decline, thus affecting consumption. Therefore, it needs a boost from government spending and additional investment," he said.

Apart from focusing on policy reforms to invite investment, another strategy of the government is to focus on developing the infrastructure sector.

The former Coordinating Minister for Politics, Law and Security said that apart from China, as well as western countries, investment from Islamic countries from Arab and African countries in Indonesia is also quite significant.

Indonesia has even signed a memorandum of understanding of US $22.8 billion with the United Arab Emirates on January 12, 2020.

Details of the cooperation include sustainable energy development, sharing a vision of green growth to transform energy security into sustainable energy, and support value genuine Islam in encouraging tolerance.

"Foreign investment companies (PMA) from Islamic countries in 2019 were dominated by the United Arab Emirates at 69.7 percent," Luhut said.

Indonesia is also collaborating with the United Arab Emirates company, namely G42, to produce the COVID-19 vaccine.

"They UAE are committed to providing 10 million doses for Indonesia and undertaking broader cooperation for pharmaceutical products in the markets of the Middle East, Africa, and several other countries," added Luhut.

In the same webinar, the Indonesian Ambassador to Abu Dhabi Husin Bagis revealed the opportunities for Islamic countries to invest in Indonesia.

According to him, there are 57 countries that are predominantly Muslim but only a few rich Muslim countries. Husin also gave an example of Saudi Arabia which can produce 12 million barrels of oil, Abu Dhabi's 14 million barrels.

"A lot of energy reserves, but the population is small, the money is a lot. Where is the money going? Yes, investment," said Husin.

Husin said because they are rich, these countries only want to invest in countries with easy bureaucracy. Investments in Indonesia have become less attractive to them because of the complexity of the bureaucracy.

"Abu Dhabi's Sovereign Wealth Fund is huge, but what makes them less interested in investing in Indonesia is because we don't have any projects that can offer clean deals," he explained.

This, he added, caused the project to end up stalled due to being stuck in the administrative process. (Antaranews)