Permits Streamlined For Economic Zones
The government is looking to cut bureaucratic red tape for businesses investing in special economic zones (KEK), as President Joko “Jokowi” Widodo seeks to attract investments and boost economic activity in the designed industrial areas. Investment Coordinating Board (BKPM) chairman Franky Sibarani said that businesspeople planning to invest in KEKs would soon be able to utilize the one-stop business service, which unites all required investment permits in one body, rather than requiring applicants to deal with a host of agencies and ministries. “The BKPM will focus on KEKs in an effort to integrate business permit-processing at the central and regional levels, as well as to attract more investment and spur economic activity,” Franky said in a statement released over the weekend. The one-stop service begun its operations in January, but at that time the facility was limited to investors processing their permits at the BKPM’s central office in Jakarta. Since then, the i...