DECEMBERASIA BUSINESS OUTLOOK8Indonesia will grant tax breaks to automakers planning to build electric vehicle factories on imports of fully assembled electric vehicles by 2025, according to a new presidential decree, as Jakarta attracts more cash. According to the new laws, signed last December 8 and announced this week, companies that have invested in electric vehicle factories and those that are thinking of increasing or planning to invest in electric vehicles will be able to obtain incentives. The new laws will eliminate import taxes and luxury sales taxes on assembled vehicles imported into the coun-try and provide incentives for taxes collected by local governments. Previous laws provided these incentives for importing used vehicles that were shipped as parts and assembled to the country of sale. Indonesia is the largest car market in Southeast Asia.However, the number of vehicles the company can import depends on the size of its investment and the development progress of its factory, which the Ministry of Investment must approve. Rachmat Kaimuddin, the deputy minister of integration at the Ministry of Invest-ment and the Pacific, said during a webinar on Indonesia and the economic outlook on Dec 13 that the new law will help carmakers build the Indonesian market through electric vehicle imports."We try to be progressive because once we have cre-ated an EV industry in Indonesia, the battery (industry) will also come, and we already have the (raw) material and can create the supply chain," he said.The new regulations also delayed a deadline requiring companies to produce at least 40 percent of the content of EVs in Indonesia until 2026 from 2023. Also, the decree delays an increase in the local content threshold to 60 per cent to 2027 from the initial target of 2024. INDONESIA TO OFFER TAX INCENTIVES FOR EV AUTOMAKERSNEWSROOMThe Financial Services Commission announced on December 13 that foreigners can open accounts with internationally used identification documents, such as an individual's passport or a Legal Entity Identification Number (LEI) for organizations.In a statement issued after the finalization of the regulatory changes, the commission said the requirement that companies trading securities through omnibus accounts report their trade information once a month within two days of the close has also been relaxed.The changes are part of the South Korean government's efforts to improve foreign access to the country's stock market, which includes plans to apply to companies listed in last year's filing of business documents in English.However, foreign investors last month criticized Korea's sudden ban on short-selling stocks, reducing market transparency and restricting foreign flows. SOUTH KOREAN GOVERNMENT DISCARDS REGISTRATION FOR FOREIGN STOCK TRADERS
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