Supporting the economic recovery in the country, investment continued to flow to Indonesia throughout the first half of this year. The realization of this investment shows the confidence of the business world in the investment climate and the investment potential in Indonesia is still growing amidst the ongoing pandemic. The Ministry of Investment/Investment Coordinating Agency (BKPM) noted that the realization of direct investment during January-June 2021 reached Rp 442.8 trillion or has reached 49.2% of the 2021 investment target of Rp 900 trillion. The investment value rose 10% over the same period the previous year. If broken down by origin, the direct investment comes from Domestic Investment (PMDN) and Foreign Investment (PMA). This total growth in direct investment has also increased employment by more than 620,000 people.
In Thursday's News Dialogue at the KPCPEN Media Center on August 26, 2021, Expert Staff to the Minister of Investment, Indra Darmawan, stated that the level of investment optimism during the pandemic tends to increase and this will encourage economic recovery.“Judging from the realization, the realization of investment in Java and outside Java is quite balanced. Likewise, the balance between PMDN and PMA is also getting more balanced," he said in an official statement received by Kontan, Friday (27/8). To optimize investment absorption, according to Indra, the Defense and Attack strategy is used. "This means that while we are looking for new investors, we will continue to cover, assist and facilitate existing ones," he explained. One of the government's efforts to encourage investment growth is to develop an online business licensing system, namely through the Online Single Submission which was inaugurated by President Jokowi recently.
The licensing process is now easier for micro, small, medium, and even large entrepreneurs, by accessing https://oss.go.id/. According to him, the gas and brake policy from the government to balance health protection and economic recovery is the right step for Indonesia to succeed through the pandemic period. Shinta Widjadja Kamdani, Deputy Chairperson of the Indonesian Chamber of Commerce and Industry (Kadin), also underlined this. According to him, the recovery of the health sector will have an impact on economic recovery. Even though the conditions are not easy in terms of restricting mobility, Shinta hopes that business managers will remain adaptive and agile. “Business actors can actually take advantage of this momentum to transform and innovate. Among them, by optimizing the use of digital platforms to increase product sales," he said.
Shinta said that even MSMEs have used digital platforms such as e-commerce and social media. In order to encourage investment growth, according to Shinta, it is necessary to strengthen competitiveness by utilizing Indonesia's rich natural and human resources as assets. "In addition, no less important is the development of infrastructure, both hard and soft, as well as industrialization with the production of raw materials from Indonesia," he added.
Yusuf Rendy Manilet, a researcher at the Center of Reform on Economics (CORE) Indonesia, also expressed optimism about investment growth. This can be seen through various indicators, for example the level of confidence in business players is maintained, or the import of industrial raw materials which is at an optimistic level and indicates that the domestic industry continues to move even in the midst of a pandemic. "Hopefully investment growth in Indonesia will continue to occur, especially in the manufacturing industry sector which has a major contribution," he said. According to him, handling the pandemic from a health perspective is the most essential to support the economic recovery process. The public must get used to new habits such as the discipline of health protocols, considering that a pandemic can last for a long time. Yusuf hopes that investment can support economic recovery and be inclusive, can be felt by all groups.
