REPUBLIKA.CO.ID, JAKARTA -- The Capital Investment Coordinating Board (BKPM) is luring US investors to invest in Indonesia's meat and seafood processing industry, according to BKPM Chief Franky Sibarani.
The BKPM chief revealed that a meeting was organized on the sidelines of President Joko Widodo's current visit to San Fransisco, the United States, to attract investors.
Franky said in a written statement received in Jakarta on Wednesday that the US food companies, which were invited to invest in Indonesia's eastern regions, had, so far, imported seafood from Indonesia.
"With the exclusion of the cold storage business from the Indonesian Investment Negative List (DNI), foreign companies can come to Indonesia and make investment in the downstream seafood industry," remarked Franky.
The tenth economic policy package recently announced by the government officially removed 35 business sectors from the DNI. One of the sectors is cold storage, which holds importance for several seafood processing companies for preserving their seafood products.
The government has revised the DNI's remit by removing 35 economic sectors, thereby opening them to 100 percent foreign investment. These sectors included crumb rubber; cold storage; tourism businesses such as restaurants, cocktail lounges, cafe's, recreation centers, arts, and entertainment; sports centers; and film industry.
According to Presidential Regulation No. 39/2014, the cold storage business is confined to 33 percent foreign investment in Sumatra, Java, and Bali and 67 percent in Kalimantan, Sulawesi, Nusa Tenggara, Maluku, and Papua.
With its removal from the DNI, the cold storage sector is now open to 100 percent foreign investment in all regions in Indonesia.
Franky noted that the positive aspect of the plan of the US food companies is that they will invest in the eastern regions in Indonesia.
"This is a positive step for the government's program to encourage equitable investment and economic growth in the Indonesian eastern regions," he noted.
The BKPM chief stated that the companies had visited Indonesia several times, and they are now finalizing their preparations to make investment in Indonesia.
"The companies paid attention to regulations, land ownership, and exports in Indonesia," he added.
Based on data at the BKPM in 2015, the realization of investment in the food industrial sector, which is included in the labor-intensive priority scale, amounted to Rp43.5 trillion, with 2,184 projects.
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