Data Check: Muhaimin Discusses Attracting Investment; What is the Competitiveness of Indonesian Businesses?

In the third session with the sub-theme of urbanization, the first vice-presidential candidate (cawapres), Muhaimin Iskandar, stated that investment will not flow in without trust from investors, both domestic and foreign. According to Muhaimin,

“Investment is one of the most important factors for economic growth. Investment won't come in without international and domestic trust and the maintenance of stable business growth in our society. Investment is still very closed; we want it to be open.”

He delivered this statement during the second presidential and vice-presidential debate of 2024, themed "People's Economy, Digital Economy, Finance, Investment, Taxation, Management of the State Budget/Regional Budget, Infrastructure, and Urbanization," at the Jakarta Convention Center on Friday, December 22, 2023.

According to the World Competitiveness Ranking from the International Institute for Management Development (IMD), which publishes the Global Competitiveness Index, Indonesia ranks 44th out of 64 countries. Four indicators are used to measure this index, with 336 criteria developed.

These four indicators are economic performance, encompassing domestic economic growth, international trade and investment, employment, and prices such as inflation; government efficiency, which includes business legal frameworks; infrastructure, encompassing basic infrastructure, technology infrastructure, and education; and business efficiency, encompassing business productivity and efficiency, the labor market, domestic financial policies, management governance, and business values and ethics.

When first measured in 2019, Indonesia ranked 32nd globally. This ranking dropped to 44th in 2022 and improved to 34th in 2023.