Indonesia will ease foreign investment rules in several sectors of the economy, including the e-commerce, healthcare and movie industries, President Joko Widodo said yesterday.
The move is aimed at attracting more foreign funds into Southeast Asia’s economy, which has been growing at its slowest pace in six years because of falling commodity prices and cooling growth in major trading partner China.
“We are seriously considering deregulation across the board, but focusing on e-commerce, healthcare and creative industry,” Widodo said in an interview with Reuters at the presidential palace in central Jakarta.
Photo: AFP
“Our commitment is to increasing competition,” he said.
Indonesian Trade Minister Thomas Lembong told reporters separately the retail sector is also among those to be opened up to foreign investment.
The most recent revision to the negative list — which names sectors to which foreign investment restrictions apply — was done in 2014 and was seen by many as less investor-friendly.
Widodo’s administration has rolled out several economic stimulus packages in recent months aimed at cutting red tape, boosting spending and improving investor sentiment.
Meanwhile, the government said it has approved the renewal of an export license for Freeport-McMoRan Inc that will allow the company to ship concentrates from its Grasberg copper and gold mine.
Karyanto Suprih, acting director-general for foreign trade at the trade ministry, said in a text message yesterday that he has signed the permit. The license will allow Freeport to ship 1 million tonnes of concentrates through Aug. 8, according to Didi Sumedi, export director for mining and industry products at the ministry. The previous permit expired on Jan. 28.
The license will increase global copper supplies and add more pressure to prices that have fallen 20 percent in the past year. The deal will also support the Phoenix-based producer as it struggles with the price collapse and after Moody’s Investors Service cut its credit rating four levels to junk last month.
The Grasberg mine in Papua is the world’s largest in terms of copper capacity after Escondida, according to the International Copper Study Group. The company says it has the single biggest gold reserves.
The company has agreed to pay a 5 percent tax on exports of concentrates, Bambang Gatot Ariyono, director-general of coal and minerals at the Energy and Mineral Resources Ministry, said on Tuesday. The government and Freeport are still discussing a US$530 million payment toward a new smelter, he said.
Additional reporting by Bloomberg
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