Jakarta – Investment Coordinating Board (BKPM) head Thomas Lembong says the government has lost its focus in the effort to improve its ranking in the World Bank's Ease of Doing Business Index, having slid one spot to 73rd place from last year.
"I remember when the President highlighted the importance of ease of doing business in 2014. We were all excited and in high spirits," he said at the Office of the Coordinating Economic Minister in Jakarta on Thursday as reported by kompas.com.
"However, I have to admit that in 2017, we lost our focus. Our spirit was not as high as in 2014 to 2016."
It was the second time Lembong criticized the performance of the government with regard to ease of doing business. He made a similar statement earlier this week when he announced a decline in foreign investment in the third quarter of 2018.
He said on Thursday that it was time for the government to carry out introspection because other countries had worked hard to convince investors through regulatory reform.
"Many other countries realize that ease of doing business can be an important marketing tool to attract investment, causing Indonesia to be left behind," he said, referring to Afghanistan, Djibouti and China, which all saw significant jumps in their ease of doing business ranking.
Indonesia sits behind Malaysia (15) and Thailand (27)in the rankings, while at the top of the list sit are New Zealand, Singapore, Denmark, Hong Kong and South Korea. (bbn)