Managing Permits in Regions is Difficult

Regents are like kings

The Islamic Cooperation Organization (OIC) said investment licensing in the regions was an obstacle to the lack of investment from the Middle East to Indonesia. Whereas the central government provides investment permits to local entrepreneurs. The Indonesian President's Special Envoy to the Middle East and OIC Alwi Shihab said the difficulty of permitting investment in the regions became a tradition for regional heads.

"In the regions, the regent is like a king. I also heard that sometimes it is difficult in the regions. It's difficult to meet with the regent, especially to get permission, "he said during the Symposium on Middle East and Indonesian Investment Improvement at the JHL Hotel in Serpong.

According to him, the tradition of the difficulty of licensing investments in the regions should be immediately changed. For example, the steps taken by regional heads to approach investors, not vice versa.

"In the regions they still need investment and the regent should approach investors, not he is approached," he said.

Another obstacle faced by investors from the Middle East and the OIC, according to Alwi, is the complexity of the licensing bureaucracy. Then other issues such as fiscal incentives for investors in the spotlight of Middle Eastern and OIC investors.

"Earlier we heard about licensing, which said up to 100 procedures. I don't believe it, but yes we want to check," he said.

Based on data from the Investment Coordinating Board (BKPM), in the past five years, investment from the Middle East and the OIC has only amounted to 471 million US dollars. The amount is less than one percent of the total foreign investment in Indonesia, which reached 162 billion US dollars.

While Acting Country Manager of Kuwait Foreign Petroleum Exploration Company (Kufpec) Abdullah Al Shorain Al Mutairi added, companies engaged in the oil and gas sector are in order for bureaucratic procedures for the filing of cooperation contracts that are not in the gross split system.

IN INDONESIA

Urus Izin di Daerah Sulit

Bupati seperti Raja

Organisasi Kerja Sama Islam (OKI) menyebut perizinan investasi di daerah menjadi kendala minimnya investasi dari Timur Tengah ke Indonesia. Padahal pemerintah pusat memberikan kemudahan izin berinvestasi kepada para pengusaha lokal. Utusan Khusus Presiden RI untuk Timur Tengah dan OKI Alwi Shihab mengatakan sulitnya perizinan investasi di daerah menjadi tradisi bagi kepala daerah.

“Di daerah, bupati itu sudah seperti Raja. Saya juga dengar kadang yang mempersulit justru di daerah. Ketemu bupati saja susah, apalagi untuk mengurus izin," ujarnya saat acara Symposium Peningkatan Investasi Timur Tengah dan Indonesia di Hotel JHL Serpong.

Menurutnya, tradisi sulitnya perizinan investasi di daerah semestinya bisa segera diubah. Semisal, langkah kepala daerah yang melakukan pendekatan dengan para investor, bukan sebaliknya.

“Di daerah masih membutuhkan investasi dan harusnya bupati itu mendekati investor, bukan dia didekati," ucapnya.

Kendala lain yang dihadapi para investor dari Timur Tengah dan OKI, menurut Alwi, adalah rumitnya birokrasi perizinan. Kemudian masalah lain seperti insentif fiskal bagi investor yang menjadi sorotan investor Timur Tengah dan OKI.

"Tadi kita dengar soal perizinan yang bilang sampai harus 100 prosedur. Saya kurang percaya, tapi ya kita mau cek" ucapnya.

Berdasarkan data Badan Koordinasi Penanaman Modal (BKPM), dalam kurun waktu lima tahun terakhir, investasi dari  Timur Tengah dan OKI hanya sebesar 471 juta dolar AS. Jumlahnya tidak sampai satu persen dari total investasi asing di Indonesia yang mencapai 162 miliar dolar AS.

Sementara Acting Country Manager of Kuwait Foreign Petroleum Exploration Company (Kufpec) Abdullah Al Shorain Al Mutairi menambahkan, perusahaan yang bergerak di bidang minyak dan gas agar prosedur birokratis atas pengajuan kontrak kerja sama yang tidak dalam sistem gross split.

Harian Bangsa, Page-4, Wednesday, Sept 11, 2019