Washington, D.C. / Jakarta, Indonesia – Today AmCham Indonesia and the U.S. Chamber of Commerce hosted the 10th annual U.S.-Indonesia Investment Summit in Jakarta. The event concluded with a call for Indonesia to continue its economic reform program, particularly in key areas such as the digital economy, public health, energy transition, and financial services.
“Indonesia has made real strides under President Joko Widodo in regulatory reform and infrastructure in recent years,” said AmCham Indonesia Managing Director A. Lin Neumann. “But there is still a lot of work to be done on legal certainty, education, and other areas. We are here to offer our support.”
The U.S. Chamber and Amcham Indonesia, along with USAID, also released a report today entitled “Resilient Indonesia.” The report makes recommendations on enhancing Indonesia’s economic reform efforts, including:
- Improve government coordination for regulatory certainty;
- Promote inclusive policymaking for effective regulatory frameworks;
- Accelerate equitable development; and,
- Rationalize local content policies to ensure competitive enterprises
“Indonesia’s successful hosting of the B20 and G20 Summits has provided momentum to the commercial relationship with the United States”, said John Goyer, Executive Director for Southeast Asia at the U.S. Chamber of Commerce. “Now is the time to capitalize on that momentum.”
During the Summit, participants discussed ways to address the policy priorities that are key to unlocking greater trade and investment between the U.S. and Indonesia. These include:
Digital economy. The business community has strongly supported Indonesia’s development and promotion of the digital economy, which will be vital to longer-term economic growth. Indonesia’s recently passed Personal Data Protection bill is monumental, and AmCham Indonesia and the U.S. Chamber urged that the private sector be engaged closely as its implementation moves forward.
Public health. As Indonesia recovers from the COVID-induced downturn, the private sector has been working closely with Indonesia to articulate policies that will drive health security and provide better access. Unfortunately, many local content restrictions are counter to Indonesia’s public health goals as they restrict inputs needed for the development of the sector and harm Indonesian patients by restricting access to some foreign medicines.
Energy transition. The G20 agreement with Indonesia is an important effort to help the country absorb the massive costs associated with energy transition. It will be important that the agreement is implemented vigorously, and at the same time, Indonesia creates an optimal environment that will incentivize investment in upstream and downstream renewable and sustainable energy projects.
Financial services. The private sector has been engaged with the Indonesian government as the Omnibus Law on Financial Sector Reform moves forward in the legislature. In particular, businesses are tracking how the new law may affect the ability of foreign insurers to provide insurance services in the Indonesian market.
“As Indonesia moves into the chairmanship of ASEAN for 2023, the country has an important opportunity to position itself as a regional leader in promoting economic reform, keeping markets open, and supporting the regional and multilateral trade architecture,” said Goyer.
About the U.S.-Indonesia Investment Summit
The annual U.S.-Indonesia Investment Summit is the capstone event under “Initiative Indonesia,” a joint effort between the American Chamber of Commerce in Indonesia and the U.S. Chamber of Commerce.
