The Ministry of Investment and Downstream/the Investment Coordinating Board (BKPM) has spoken up over the cancelation of hundreds of trillion rupiah investment due to thuggery carried out by mass organizations (Ormas).
Deputy for Climate Development and Investment at the Ministry of Investment and Downstream/BKPM, Riyatno, emphasized that his ministry actively attempt to resolve problems faced by investors, inviting related parties to discuss and find solutions together.
“So if there are problems faced by investors, we will invite a meeting with the relevant ministries/institutions, the local government(s), to find out what the problem is, including if there is involvement of mass organizations,” Riyatno said on Monday, February 10, 2025.
The government, he continued, has the responsibility to oversee investment from start to finish. If problems arise in the middle of the investment process, the Ministry of Investment will step in to find solutions by coordinating with related parties.
Investment Minister Rosan P. Roeslani stressed that the task of the Ministry of Investment is to facilitate the resolution of obstacles experienced by investors.
“Our task is to facilitate the problems faced by investors. So if there are obstacles, including those mentioned earlier, the Ministry of Investment and Downstream, particularly the Deputy for Climate Development and Investment, will facilitate and find solutions,” Rosan said.
According to Riyatno, the issue of thuggery that disrupts the investment climate is a serious concern for the government. The Ministry of Investment emphasized that it will continue to strive to maintain a conducive investment climate in order to attract more investors to invest in Indonesia.
Government protection
Previously, the Industrial Estate Association (HKI) expressed concerns over acts of thuggery carried out by a number of mass organizations that have been increasingly disrupting security and hampering industrial operations in various areas.
Several investors have even reported this situation directly to President Prabowo Subianto after letters from area managers are considered no longer effective in overcoming the problem.
HKI Chairperson, Sanny Iskandar, said that industrial areas in Bekasi, Karawang, Batam, and East Java have become targets of thuggery. Mass organizations often stage protests, seal factories, and hold containers in order to request a share in various industrial activities, such as transportation, catering, and factory expansion. This situation hampers factory operations and threatens the sustainability of investment.
“Letters from the area managers seem to be less effective, finally some investors finally wrote letters directly to the president, met the president. Previously, some of them also went directly to BKPM asking for security guarantees,” Sanny said on February 6, 2025 as quoted by Bisnis Indonesia.
According to him, this security disturbance has the potential to cause a number of companies to leave and the cancelation of new investments, with potential losses reaching hundreds of trillions of rupiah.
HKI hopes that the government will immediately provide more protection for investors and business actors in order to create a conducive industrial climate and attract more investment to Indonesia.
