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Local government chief executives attending the Indonesian
Regional Investment Forum at the Shangri-La Hotel in Jakarta on Friday
agreed on the need to create legal certainty and greater security in
order to attract investors to their provinces.
"If you do business in Gorontalo, you will no longer be required to pay
any local government charges. I have set up a special team to eliminate
these kinds of charges," Gorontalo Governor Fadel Muhammad said.
"When I asked how much they contributed to the local budget, I
discovered that it was only 2 percent. So I instructed my subordinates
to just get rid of them as they were only imposing an unnecessary
burden on investors," said the businessman turned politician.
In addition, he said that his administration had issued an ordinance to
simplify licensing procedures for those willing to invest in the
province, which is located in the northern part of Sulawesi island.
"People used to have to go through at least 17 desks when applying for
a business license. Now, I've cut the number down to only one desk," he
said.
As the result, economic growth in Gorontalo had increased to 7 percent
this year from 4 percent last year. Currently, Gorontalo is among the
wealthiest provinces in the country, with its principal industries
being agriculture and fishing.
The autonomy given to local governments has given them greater powers
to manage their own assets and economic affairs. But many observers say
that provincial administrations have frequently taken advantage of
these powers by imposing various kinds of charges, mainly to augment
their local budgets, but not infrequently for purposes of
self-enrichment. In many areas, local government autonomy has, in fact,
severely hurt business instead of helping spur economic growth.
Meanwhile, in the case of Central Kalimantan province, which boasts
abundant untapped natural resources, including oil and gas, gold, coal,
plantation land, forests and fisheries, Governor Teras Narang said that
the local government there had been doing all in its power to create an
investment-friendly environment.
"We are trying to reduce the number of charges that have to be paid by
businesspeople. We also plan to streamline the bureaucratic procedures
that have to be gone through by investors when applying for licenses,"
he told The Jakarta Post.
He further said that his administration was working together with the
police to ensure the security and safety of investors and their
business operations in the province.
North Sulawesi Governor Sinyo Sarundayang said that his administration
was providing non-fiscal incentives for investors putting their money
into the province, which is known for the rich diversity of its
agricultural produce, which include corn, cloves, coconuts, nutmeg and
vanilla.
He said that his province provided a one-stop service at the
provincial, municipality and regency levels for investors interested in
doing business there.
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