Fajarasia.co – Investment Minister and Head of the Investment Coordinating Board Bahlil Lahadalia asked all regional governments in West Papua Province to organize a healthy bureaucracy and provide security guarantees to encourage investment interest by entrepreneurs in the region.
Speaking at an investment working meeting attended by the Provincial Government and all Regency/City Governments throughout West Papua at the Swissbell Manokwari Hotel, last Wednesday, Bahlil said that the main reasons for the low interest in investment in the area were complicated bureaucracy, lack of security guarantees and difficulties in obtaining certainty of land rights. .
“Firstly, security must be guaranteed, secondly the bureaucracy from officials who have the authority, the third problem in almost all of Papua is the problem of buying and selling land which is complicated. How can investment come in if all three are not fulfilled,” said Bahlil in a release received by the Editor, Thursday (16/03). 6/2022).
Based on data from the Ministry of Investment and BKPM, in 2021 West Papua is targeted to absorb an investment of Rp3.78 trillion.
However, until December 2021, only IDR 1.11 trillion could be realized.
As a result, the target set by the Central Government for West Papua in terms of growth and absorption of investment in 2022 was lowered to Rp2.74 trillion.
Bahlil also explained that the competitiveness of investment in West Papua is far behind from all provinces in Indonesia. This is seen as very ironic considering that West Papua is rich in natural resource potential.
“West Papua’s investment competitiveness ranks last out of 34 provinces in Indonesia,” said Bahlil.
According to the former chairman of HIPMI, the minimum investment value that enters an area will have a direct effect on economic growth in that region.
Meanwhile, West Papua’s economic growth in the first quarter of 2022 experienced a contraction of minus 1.01 percent.
“In provinces where investment is lacking, economic growth is definitely weak. The negative contraction that occurs is due to the lack of people’s purchasing power, the influence of income. This condition can only be overcome by creating job opportunities that are accommodated by investment in the regions,” he explained.
So that West Papua’s economic growth can and will continue to increase in the future, Bahlil invites regional heads in the region to support the presence of big investors in their respective regions.
Big investment that comes from outside, both domestically and foreign investment, he said, must be able to collaborate with business actors in the region so that local entrepreneurs are not only spectators in their own country.****
