Indonesia Real Estate Broker Association (Arebi) chairman Lukas Bong has called on the Indonesian government to relax regulations on property ownership for foreigners to help the country’s property industry grow.

Lukas said it was still difficult for foreigners to acquire property in Indonesia, despite many expressing the desire to do so.

“We want the government to open up ownership of luxury apartments to foreigners. Many foreigners, such as those from Japan, Hong Kong and other Asian countries, actually want to buy apartments here,” he recently said on the sidelines of an event.

Lukas said giving opportunities to foreigners to own apartments valued at 10 billion rupiah ($712.04 million) to 20 billion rupiah would not cause harm and instead benefit the property industry.

Lukas projected property growth to reach six per cent this year, while if the government allowed foreigners to own property, the growth could reach 30 per cent. “I believe many are interested in buying property as many foreigners want to enter Indonesia” said Lukas.

Property ownership by foreigners is regulated under Government Regulation No 103/2015 and Agrarian Ministerial Regulation No 13/2016.

Under the regulations, foreigners are permitted to purchase property according to pricing rules. In Jakarta, for example, foreigners can only purchase an apartment at a price limit of five billion rupiah. THE JAKARTA POST/ANN