Bandung. Hundreds of business owners under the West Java branch of the Indonesian Employers Association (Apindo) met with Governor Dedi Mulyadi on Thursday evening at eL Hotel Bandung to discuss key challenges facing the province’s business sector.

The meeting marks one of the first large-scale dialogues between Dedi’s administration and regional business leaders since he took office, signaling the provincial government’s commitment to policy clarity and improved business facilitation.

Apindo West Java Chair Ning Wahyu Astutik said the meeting served as a crucial opportunity for the governor to hear firsthand accounts from entrepreneurs and for the private sector to better understand the provincial government’s priority programs.

“One of the issues raised was land-use conversion -- for instance, when industrial areas are suddenly reclassified for agricultural use, such as salt farming, covering more than 100 hectares. There are many other challenges as well,” Ning said.

She also praised Dedi’s proposal to make the Provincial Minimum Wage (UMP) the main wage benchmark across West Java, eliminating separate city- and regency-level wage systems. Under the new concept, wage differences would be based on business sectors rather than geographical location.

Governor Dedi welcomed the dialogue with Apindo, calling it an important step toward strengthening communication between the government and business community.

“I’ve asked Apindo’s leadership to identify the key problems companies are facing,” Dedi said. “For example, one entrepreneur bought land only to later find that neighborhood zoning numbers had changed.”

Dedi emphasized that identifying concrete issues is a crucial first step toward ensuring more effective collaboration between the private sector and local authorities.

“Some companies are dealing with high-voltage power line zones, while others -- like one in Indramayu -- still haven’t received building permits,” he said. “These issues need to be reported directly to me so we can find solutions that benefit the people of West Java.”

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