Jakarta. Indonesia is gaining momentum to attract global investment in the financial sector riding on the country’s success in last year’s G20 presidency, but a lot needs to be done to make sure that money is flowing in, a fintech executive said in a recent seminar.

Major investors primarily from Southeast Asia have expressed interest in expanding businesses in Indonesia but the country needs “favorable and responsive” policies immediately to tap opportunities, said Pandu Patria Sjahrir, chairman of the Indonesian Fintech Association or AFTECH.

Pandu said Employees Provident Fund, a state-run pension fund management in Malaysia, recently expressed their interest in increasing investment in Indonesia.

“Around ten people visited us and only talked about Indonesia. They plan to increase the investment in both public markets such as the Indonesia Stock Exchange and the private market as well,” Pandu said during the 2023 Economic Outlook seminar hosted by B-Universe Media Holdings in Jakarta on Tuesday.

Aside from that, Sovereign Wealth Fund from Brunei also plans to channel funds from China and Europe to Indonesia, he added without going into details.

“So now our task is to come and get it, put that in the capital market,” Pandu said.

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The IDX is also set to host the largest IPO in Southeast Asia by an oil company in the near future, he added.

“It’s another momentum for us to compete and make it as easy as possible for them to invest,” he said.

Pandu reiterated the recent warning from President Joko Widodo about unethical business conduct and investment scams that hurt the business climate.

He pointed to the investment fraud scandal in financing cooperative Indosurya that cost investors trillions of rupiah but its executives were acquitted of all criminal charges with the court arguing it’s more of a civil case.

“To me, financial crime is even worse than love crime because it hurts the feeling of a lot more people,” Pandu said.

Pandu said AFTECH is currently shifting the focus from encouraging investment to help boost economic growth to promoting prudence amid growing cases of fraud by fintech companies.

“We have revoked the membership of a number of companies that automatically lifted their permit from the OJK [Financial Service Authority]. At the end of the day, this is our duty and responsibility to assist OJK’s oversight role in the financial market,” Pandu said.

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