Indonesia launches 'Golden Visa' to lure foreign investors, boost economy

JAKARTA (Reuters) - Indonesia launched a long-term visa scheme on Thursday intended to attract foreign investors, President Joko Widodo said, with amounts of up to $10 million giving them a 10-year visa and access to Southeast Asia's largest economy.

The five-year "Golden Visa" requires individual investors to set up a company worth $2.5 million, while a 10-year visa requires a $5 million investment.

Individuals not looking to set up a company must place $350,000 and $700,000 to gain a 5-year and 10-year permit respectively, and the money can be used to buy Indonesian government bonds, public company stocks, or place deposits.

Corporate investors are required to invest $25 million to get five-year visas for directors and commissioners. They need to invest $50 million to gain a 10-year visa. 

If the investment is made in the new $32 billion capital city currently being built in the jungles of Borneo island, $5 million will gain investors a 5-year visa and $10 million a 10-year visa, the immigration agency said.

Several countries offer similar investment visa schemes, but others, including Canada, Britain and Singapore, have scrapped such schemes as governments conclude they do not create jobs and could be a means to park speculative money.

Jokowi, as the president is commonly known, said the visa was intended to lure "good quality travellers".

"We're launching the golden visa to make it easier for foreign nationals to invest and contribute in Indonesia," he said.

Silmy Karim, chief of the immigration agency, said Indonesia had granted golden visas to almost 300 applicants since it began testing the permits out last year, attracting $123 million.

Silmy also said the authorities are discussing ways to grant a special status for foreign nationals of Indonesian descent, modelled after the Overseas Citizenship of India (OCI), which allows foreigners of Indian ancestry to visit, work and live in India indefinitely. That could be issued by October, he added.

Silmy said the plan was intended to respond to calls for Indonesia to allow its citizens to hold another passport.

($1 = 16,270.0000 rupiah)

(This story has been refiled to remove the word 'dollars' in paragraph 5)

(Reporting by Stanley Widianto; Editing by Miral Fahmy)