Local leaders say they see the light on investment

The Jakarta Post, Jakarta

Local government chief executives attending the Indonesian Regional Investment Forum at the Shangri-La Hotel in Jakarta on Friday agreed on the need to create legal certainty and greater security in order to attract investors to their provinces.

"If you do business in Gorontalo, you will no longer be required to pay any local government charges. I have set up a special team to eliminate these kinds of charges," Gorontalo Governor Fadel Muhammad said.

"When I asked how much they contributed to the local budget, I discovered that it was only 2 percent. So I instructed my subordinates to just get rid of them as they were only imposing an unnecessary burden on investors," said the businessman turned politician.

In addition, he said that his administration had issued an ordinance to simplify licensing procedures for those willing to invest in the province, which is located in the northern part of Sulawesi island.

"People used to have to go through at least 17 desks when applying for a business license. Now, I've cut the number down to only one desk," he said.

As the result, economic growth in Gorontalo had increased to 7 percent this year from 4 percent last year. Currently, Gorontalo is among the wealthiest provinces in the country, with its principal industries being agriculture and fishing.

The autonomy given to local governments has given them greater powers to manage their own assets and economic affairs. But many observers say that provincial administrations have frequently taken advantage of these powers by imposing various kinds of charges, mainly to augment their local budgets, but not infrequently for purposes of self-enrichment. In many areas, local government autonomy has, in fact, severely hurt business instead of helping spur economic growth.

Meanwhile, in the case of Central Kalimantan province, which boasts abundant untapped natural resources, including oil and gas, gold, coal, plantation land, forests and fisheries, Governor Teras Narang said that the local government there had been doing all in its power to create an investment-friendly environment.

"We are trying to reduce the number of charges that have to be paid by businesspeople. We also plan to streamline the bureaucratic procedures that have to be gone through by investors when applying for licenses," he told The Jakarta Post.

He further said that his administration was working together with the police to ensure the security and safety of investors and their business operations in the province.

North Sulawesi Governor Sinyo Sarundayang said that his administration was providing non-fiscal incentives for investors putting their money into the province, which is known for the rich diversity of its agricultural produce, which include corn, cloves, coconuts, nutmeg and vanilla.

He said that his province provided a one-stop service at the provincial, municipality and regency levels for investors interested in doing business there. (09)