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By APD Writer Maverick
JAKARTA, May 30 (APD) – Indonesia to improve regulations aimed at attracting more potential foreign investors after the nation secured investment grade ratings from all three prominent international financial agencies for its promising economy and sound fiscal and monetary policies.
Heeding up the latest investment grade rating awarded by Standard and Poor’s (S&P), Indonesian President Joko Widodo said that it should eventually bring benefit to the nation’s investments, particularly in the manufacturing and other sectors that can provide direct positive impact for the people’s economy.
“We must follow suit it, making it not only benefiting portfolios in our stock market, but also in the real sectors that would eventually spur our economy grows higher,” the president said to open a cabinet meeting on Monday.
Among the things that need to be well-addressed by the ministers were to make government’s economic reform policies more effective in the implementation.
President Widodo’s administration has issued 14 economic reform policies during his term that began in 2014, mainly aimed at simplifying procedures to invest in Indonesia for foreign investors.
On May 19 S&P joined the other prominent financial agencies of Moody’s and Fitch, which had awarded Indonesian sovereign bond ratings to investment grade with positive outlook in February this year and late last year respectively.
Head of Indonesia’s Investment Coordinating Board (BKPM) Thomas Lembong said that the latest investment grade rating awarded by S&P should be used as momentum to spur further the economic reforms through breakthrough measures.
He added that Indonesia has set growth targets between 5.1 to 5.3 percent this year and 5.4 to 6.1 percent next year, requires huge amount of investments to significantly propel the economy.
“To accomplish those targets, we need to see materializations of 50.8 billion U.S. dollars of investments this year and another 59.6 billion U.S. dollars next year. It’s a 17 percent higher. It would take herculean efforts to achieve those targets,” Thomas said in the same occasion.
As part of efforts to achieve the investment target for this year, the BKPM and related ministries and agencies have recently secured 400 million U.S. dollars of investments pledged by foreign investors attending Manado International Conference on Tourism.
The investments pledged by Chinese and the United States investors went to tourism and maritime sectors, Thomas said.
He added that investors from the two countries would team up with local partners to build tourism accommodations and facilities in Manado, the capital of North Sulawesi province and award-winning destination in Raja Ampat located in Indonesia’s easternmost province of Papua.
“Those investment deals have proved government’s serious efforts to develop tourism and maritime sectors,” Thomas added.
Indonesia has set tourism as its leading sector to propel its economy as it has direct positive impacts for the people.
Southeast Asia’s largest economy develops new ten destinations across the country to support the sector, designed to par with much-favored Bali in attracting foreign visitors.
Indonesia has set target to welcome 15 million foreign visitors this year, earn more than 24 billion U.S. dollars from the sector from 20 million ones targeted by the government in 2019.
(ASIA PACIFIC DAILY)
