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ewly appointed Investment Coordinating Board (BKPM) chairman Thomas Lembong is expected to push efforts to cut red tape and attract more investors to the many regions in the archipelago, businesspeople say.

The Indonesian Employers Association (Apindo) has urged the investment board to make a “grand design” to ensure that regional administrations work in line with the central government’s missions as they often conflict with each other, Apindo chairman Hariyadi Sukamdani said.

The British Chamber of Commerce (BritCham) in Indonesia voiced optimism that the new BKPM chief would continue to strengthen current efforts alongside regional administrations in attracting foreign direct investment (FDI) as expected by President Joko “Jokowi” Widodo.

BritCham executive director Chris Wren said the group would offer platforms for pitching potential global investors, especially from the UK, as it already worked closely with its counterparts, the Indonesian Chamber of Commerce and Industry (Kadin) in East and West Java and the Indonesian Regency Administrations Association (Apkasi).

“We have begun closer communication with Apkasi through an MoU intended to provide regencies with a channel to the UK through us,” he said.

Thomas, who served as trade minister prior to being appointed BKPM chief, faces a huge task to improve the agency’s strategies in coordinating its counterparts and stakeholders in terms of expanding investment to more far-flung regions, amid a goal to net Rp 594.8 trillion (US$45.3 billion) in investment throughout this year, up by 9 percent from last year.

One of the strategies Thomas has in mind is bolstering the agency’s existing partnerships with various institutions, such as state-owned lender Bank Mandiri, which would help the agency in its efforts to promote investment in the country as the lender has a large corporate customer base.

Under a memorandum of understanding signed on Tuesday, Mandiri may help attract foreign or domestic investors by providing reliable information on potential local economic sectors or businesses through a process called matchmaking.

“With a trusted corporate customer base, it will be easy to facilitate prospective investors meeting with their potential partners and resulting in business deals,” Thomas said after the signing ceremony, adding that the agency might be open to similar partnerships with other national banks.

Mandiri president director Kartika “Tiko” Wirjoatmodjo said the bank would help with the agency’s promotional efforts through various events, such as regional investment forums and group discussions with small and medium enterprises clients.

Tiko said the bank would still need to assess potential regions to be included in the upcoming promotional events, particularly in the eastern part of the country, such as East Nusa Tenggara (NTT) and Southeast Sulawesi, where FDI was still rare.

Businesspeople welcomed the BKPM’s initiative as a way to help make investing in regions more attractive to investors.

However, they expect the agency to play a stronger role as investment coordinator, such as through its one-stop integrated service (PTSP) — which they said still needed to be promoted in regions — to ensure ease of doing business.

“The one-stop service will help facilitate more investment in regions as businesspeople often face complicated bureaucracy. There are even regional agencies that require an investors’ permit proposal, which takes two years to obtain,” Chris Kanter, advisory board member of Kadin, said.

Korean Chamber of Commerce (KorCham) representative CK Song applauded the BKPM’s intention to create a more efficient atmosphere to serve FDI and current business partners, such as through a nationwide one-stop service.

The BKPM last year introduced a three-hour permit program, through which companies with more than 1,000 employees or a minimum investment of Rp 100 billion can set up within three hours compared to the weeks the process took before.