Home Appliance Manufacturing Eyed for BKPM Negative Investment List
Jakarta. The Investment Coordinating Board, or BKPM, is mulling plans to include home appliance manufacturing on the negative investment list to prevent foreign business encroaching on local turf, the top official at the agency says.
"We received suggestions to close this business sector to foreigners as Indonesians are capable of producing these goods," Franky Sibarani, the BKPM chief, said in a statement on Monday.
The BKPM includes small household appliances — such as rice cookers, coffee makers and washing machines — as electronics that can be built by local businesses.
"If Indonesia opens up too much for these products, then many investors will shift their production base to Indonesia, annulling our industry road map to build a high technology-based industry," Franky said.
Even though Indonesia has some home appliance makers like the Maspion Group, the market is still heavily dominated by foreign players, including the likes of Panasonic, Sharp and Samsung.
Franky did not elaborate on the potential effects to foreign investment in the country.
Local businesses in sectors deemed to have strategic value to the Indonesian economy are protected from foreign competition by a so-called negative investment list. The list is currently being revised by the BKPM to reflect developments in local industry.
The agency has received 454 suggestions from related ministries, agencies and throughout the private sector. The BKPM has targeted completion of the revisions by April next year.
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