President Joko Widodo has demanded that his cabinet ministers serve foreign investors better, after research by the World Bank revealed Chinese companies choosing to relocate operations to Southeast Asia had bypassed Indonesia in favour of Vietnam.
Widodo, popularly known as Jokowi, was calm but forceful when he spoke at a cabinet meeting, looking intently at the ministers as he underlined how Indonesia had been slow to take advantage of the silver linings in the ongoing US-China trade war, which has seen supply chains shift as importers from the world’s two largest economies try to avoid paying increased tariffs.
Jokowi, who won re-election in April and will start his second term in October, noted that Chinese investors preferred Vietnam as it takes only two months to obtain operating and investment permits, as opposed to “years” in Indonesia.