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Indonesia’s golden visa gamble: will it hit the investment jackpot or miss the mark?
- While it’s already attracted some wealthy investors, analysts warn the scheme also brings risks like money laundering and housing inflation
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Indonesia’s newly launched golden visa scheme is designed to lure wealthy investors, but analysts warned that it could also attract cross-border money laundering and inflate housing prices, posing a potential “threat to Indonesian citizens”.
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Jakarta last week officially launched its golden visa scheme, which offers residency to individuals willing to invest at least US$350,000 for a five-year stay or US$700,000 for the 10-year visa.
The programme is aimed at enticing “world figures, international investors, global talents, and the Indonesian diaspora” so that they can contribute their wealth, skills, or expertise to the country, according to a statement put out by the Ministry of Law and Human Rights.
“Currently, not many countries have good economic growth, maintained political stability, demographic bonus, and abundant natural resources. This means Indonesia should be a promising investment destination and a global talent destination for work. This will significantly affect the country, including capital gains, job opportunities, technology transfer, improvement in human resource quality, and more,” President Joko Widodo said on Thursday during the policy’s launch in Jakarta.
Widodo also advised the country’s immigration agency to be “selective” and only allow “individuals with high potential contributions” access to the visa.
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