Jokowi wants no more 'embarrassing' bureaucracy

JAKARTA - President Joko Widodo said there is no excuse for Indonesia to lag behind its neighbours in facilitating investments in the country, as its Investment Coordinating Board -- known as the BKPM -- introduced two new measures it has hailed as bureaucratic shortcuts.

With the Association of Southeast Asian Nations Economic Community having come into force and the Indonesian government mulling whether to join free-trade agreements such as the Trans-Pacific Partnership, Widodo said the country has no other option but to open up the country to investors -- to unlock more jobs and improve welfare.

The president, however, lamented Indonesia's poor performance in the World Bank's Doing Business 2016 report, where the archipelago ranked 109th out of 189 countries.

Although the ranking is an improvement from 120th the year before, it is far below most of Indonesia's Southeast Asian neighbours, most notably Singapore, which tops the rankings. Malaysia came in 18th and Thailand 49th.

"Let me repeat: 109," Widodo said on Monday. "Embarrassing."

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