Indonesia eases foreign ownership in retail in addition to port sectors

Indonesia has recently eased foreign ownership rules in several sectors, with the latest additions being the retail in addition to port services. The move was made as part of efforts to open up more opportunities for its economy.

President Joko Widodo signed revised investment regulations, which spell out which sectors are partially closed or entirely closed to foreign investors, known as ‘the negative investment list’. The revisions were made last week, with effect taking place immediately, according to a copy uploaded onto a government website.

The government announced the revision to rules on foreign ownership in February, saying the item has decided to loosen restrictions on everything coming from food in addition to beverage to agriculture, transportation in addition to cinemas.

The decision came as not bad news to foreign companies who have expressed interest inside sectors for quite some time. Managing director of the American Chamber of Commerce, for instance, was among those who gave a positive response:

“of which will be the very first time in many years… of which Indonesia has taken steps to open up investment rather than close the item,” said Mr. Lin Neumann as reported by Reuters.

However, the brand-new regulation sets a 49 percent foreign ownership cap on smaller e-commerce businesses, which contradicts the government’s earlier statement of which the item would certainly open the sector 100 percent to foreign investment.