BKPM Will Cancel Business Licenses Found Losing Relevance

Jakarta, Aug 20 (Antara) - The investment Coordinating Board (BKPM) will cancel business licenses that are considered less relevant but will do so in coordination with various ministries and institutions. "We will discuss the issue with ministers and heads of agencies, and explore steps that can be taken to simplify procedures and scrap permits that are considered less relevant," Chairman of the Investment Coordinating Board (BKPM), Mahendra Siregar, said here on Wednesday. Mahendra said the issue of some licenses having lost relevance was noticed in case of sectoral permits and regional licenses. "There are issues of environmental clearance, interference, and location, region and others that are involved, and we want to clear all these," he affirmed. He remarked that the BKPM will try to ensure that all such processes are in line with the law and synchronized. "We do need synchronization. Hopefully, if it is achieved soon, we will forward it to the cabinet along with steps to be taken," he noted. According to Mahendra, concrete steps were required to reduce the number of days it takes to obtain a business license. There has to be some logic as to how much time is required for a license. Coordinating Minister for Economy Chairul Tanjung said that based on the results of coordination meetings held on Wednesday (August 20), Mahendra was appointed to coordinate with relevant ministries to reach an agreement for reducing the number of licenses. "There is still a lot of overlapping in the work of certain ministries and sectors, resulting in the licensing process taking a longer time than necessary," Chairul said. For example, licensing in the plantation sector took 866 days or more than 2.5 years, while in the industrial sector, it required 794 days to obtain a business license, Chairul noted. Similarly, in the transportation sector, it took 744 days to obtain a permit to construct a terminal. Chairul said enhanced coordination between the BKPM and relevant ministries can cut the time taken for licensing process from six to four months. "The efforts are aimed to bridge the gaps and grant business licenses that are taking too much time," he said.