President Joko Widodo (Jokowi) had announced there were 23 ministerial regulations that are considered to be restrictive on investment and business, BKPM Chief Thomas Trikasih Lembong said here on Thursday.
The government is discussing intensively possible revocation of the 23 ministerial regulations and a number of other regulations, Thomas said.
He said in the past five years the spirit of deregulation began to slacken off amid the lack of momentum of economic reform, adding the condition contributed to restriction on investment.
"It is not the first time I talk about this. In the past 4-5 months what we see instead of deregulation, there were re-regulation. There were more ministerial regulations and new regulations, prerequisites, and new licenses," he said.
He quoted the president as saying that the new regulations instead of contributing to acceleration, had discouraged investment and restricted business expansion. The condition needs serious addressing to meet high targets for investment in 2017 and 2018, he added.
"We need to revive the momentum of reform and the spirit of deregulation. We also have to remind ourselves of the importance of deregulation and rationalization of regulations and licenses," he said.
The government has set investment target at Rp678.8 trillion in 2017 and Rp863 trillion in 2018. Meanwhile, in the first quarter of 2017, realization of direct investment reached Rp165.8 trillion or 24.4 percent of the target for the whole year. (*)
Editor: Heru Purwanto
Copyright © ANTARA 2017
