Aditya Suharmoko, Jakarta – Foreign businesses have demanded transparency in the House of Representative's inquiry into the Bank Century bailout and fear it may create political uncertainties and harm the economy.

"In business, transparency is very important. What we've heard is the process is not open, and many investors have cancelled their plans [to invest] here," James Castle, governor of the American Chamber of Commerce (AmCham) in Indonesia, said in a press conference Wednesday at the Finance Ministry.

Fifteen business representatives including Castle met Finance Minister Sri Mulyani Indrawati at her office Wednesday to talk about the political debate resulting from the bailout of Bank Century (now renamed as Bank Mutiara).

The 15 business people were from 12 organizations representing the US, the UK, Germany, France, Japan, Canada, Malaysia, Singapore and Thailand.

The bailout, decided in November last year, was done to protect the financial sector from a systemic threat amid the global financial crisis, said Mulyani. The Deposit Insurance Corporation (LPS) spent Rp 6.76 trillion (US$709.8 million) to save the bank. But lawmakers suspected the bailout was to protect certain depositors and that it did not have proper legal footing.

Mulyani was chairman of the now-defunct Financial System Stability Committee (KSSK), a body responsible for the decision to salvage the bank. She will meet the inquiry committee on Jan. 4.

John Prasetyo of the Indonesian Chamber of Commerce and Industry (Kadin), who accompanied the foreign businesses meeting Mulyani, said the bailout was no longer an economic issue, but a political one.

"This is our concern," he said, adding that the market conditions in November 2008 when the bailout was done were very tense.

Analysts, who say Mulyani was right to save Century, fear the economy may lose momentum as businesses become reluctant to invest here, while this year's growth was supposed to attract investment to push growth up to 5.5 percent next year.

Investment will help the real sector grow, which will gradually cut unemployment and poverty.

While Castle said foreign investors would stay here regardless of the outcome of the inquiry, he expected Indonesia to create stable policies for investors.

"We want to cooperate with the government to raise investment, hence we need the rule of law," he said, adding that Indonesia is less competitive than other countries like China in attracting investment. "There's a gap between expectations and realizations," he said.