Indonesia’s Omnibus Bill Seen as Game Changer, Tycoon Riady Says
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Indonesian President Joko Widodo’s plan to streamline a multitude of rules hindering foreign investment through an omnibus bill is a game changer with potential to bolster growth in Southeast Asia’s largest economy, according to property tycoon John Riady.
The omnibus bill on job creation and another one on tax, once passed by Indonesia’s parliament, can potentially lift economic growth from about 5% currently, and help reduce unemployment, Riady, chief executive of PT Lippo Karawaci, said in an interview with Bloomberg TV’s Haslinda Amin at the World Economic Forum in Davos Tuesday.
Jokowi, as Widodo is commonly known, has put the omnibus bills at the top of his second-term agenda as he looks to stoke economic growth. The bill on job creation will revise 79 separate existing laws and 1,244 clauses and will overhaul Indonesia’s labor legislation, make it easier for companies to secure permits, and relax foreign ownership rules.
Indonesia Set to Recast Almost 80 Laws in Jobs, Investment Push
A rebound in Indonesian growth will help Lippo’s businesses from real estate to healthcare, said Riady, who took the helm of Lippo’s flagship property business last year. A pick up in property sales is already underway, and real estate companies will benefit immensely from the infrastructure development rolled out by Jokowi’s government over the last five years, he said.
“The macro situation of Indonesia for 2020 is very bright,” Riady said. “The momentum that Indonesia has is perfect for the businesses that we are in.”
Riady, who has revamped Lippo’s debt, has pledged to focus his group’s business in property and healthcare while calling the rest of the businesses as “just investments.”
To contact the reporter on this story: Harry Suhartono in Jakarta at hsuhartono@bloomberg.net
To contact the editors responsible for this story: Sam Nagarajan at samnagarajan@bloomberg.net, Thomas Kutty Abraham, Karlis Salna
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