Indonesia has blocked foreign investors from local ecommerce. Is this good or bad? (#StartupAsia preview)

Indonesia has what’s called a Negative Investment List. The list, which the government originally created in 1998 and updates every few years, specifies sectors of the Indonesian economy in which foreign investment is prohibited or limited.

It imposes these limits across a spectrum of industries, with caps ranging anywhere from zero percent ownership to 95 percent. Some of these businesses include advertising, motor vehicle testing, and pharmaceuticals. An important one that is relevant to Indonesia’s tech entrepreneurs and investors is online retail.

One could argue that this is a good thing, as the ecommerce names that do rise up and become successful in Indonesia will be homegrown. Others could say that the regulation hinders the local market, as foreign investors may be more willing than their local counterparts to experiment in Indonesia, and provide funding to companies that would otherwise not get it.

See: How to bring more foreign money to Indonesian startups

So how exactly have local ecommerce startups and venture capital firms coped with Indonesia’s Negative Investment List? Next month at Startup Asia Jakarta 2014, Ryu Kawano Suliawan of Veritrans will interview the chairman of the Indonesia Investment Coordinating Board Mahendra Siregar, VP of digital business and ecommerce at Garuda Indonesia Daniel Tumiwa, and Kuo-Yi Lim of Monk’s Hill Ventures to learn more of the pros and cons surrounding the matter.

Join us at Startup Asia Jakarta 2014 this November 26 to 27. Register here, and use the code ILOVESTARTUPASIA to receive a 20 percent discount.

Image via Flickr user kaybee07.