Monday, 8 December 2014

ENTREPRENEURS ASK GOVERRNMENT TO SIMPLIFY LICENSING AND BUREAUCRACY



The government was asked to quickly make various efforts to overcome investment barriers and to improve the ease of doing business in the country. A number of business considered that the government was slow to respond to the result of rating surveys for ease of doing business or Doing Business in Indonesia. If in the Doing Business in 2013, Indonesia was ranked 128th, now only increased 8 ranks in doing Business 2014 which occupied rank 120 of 189 countries surveyed. Based on data on Doing Business 2014, Indonesia was ranked the seventh among ASEAN member countries, or below Singapore (rank 1), Malaysia (6), Thailand (18), Brunei Darussalam (59), Vietnam (99), and Philippines (108).

Chris Kanter, Vice Chairman of the Indonesian Chamber of Commerce and industry (KADIN Indonesia) for investment Affairs, Communications, Information Technology and Telecommunications, in Jakarta, on Wednesday (October 29), welcomed the plan of President Joko Widodo (Jokowi) to facilitate licensing and bureaucracy. This will certainly make it easier for entrepreneurs to do business in Indonesia. Chris said the licensing issue has been existed since long ago. In fact, entrepreneurs in Indonesia have long complained about bureaucracy and licensing issues.

According to Chris, so far entrepreneurs are always faced with a number of complicated bureaucracy regulations and licensing. these problems should be described one by one and carefully simplified and should be in control. The issues of licensing and bureaucracy problem is considered by Chris to be a major problem that inhibits industry growth in Indonesia.

He said that in the future, the government should focus on industries that are able to enter the international arena. And, industries in the country should also be able to deal with overseas products that benefit from the Indonesian market. Chris is optimistic that in this new administration era, ease of licensing process and bureaucracy can be implemented immediately. Moreover, President Jokowi was originally a businessman, so he understands the problems faced by entrepreneurs in Indonesia.

According to him, an integrated service and speed of the investment process is very important to encourage connectivity. So, it will ultimately improve Indonesia’s competitiveness in the ASEAN free trade that will soon take effect. Faster investment process will help the trading system and national logistics system. He sees that so far, permit obtainment is a contributing factor to investment barriers. He hoped that all the mechanism made are able to manage all business licenses, including Small and Medium Enterprises (SMEs). So that employers, especially small and medium enterprises, will be able to carry out the licenses properly.

Meanwhile, economist from the Gadjah Mada University (UGM), Sri Adningsih, said that during the administration of President Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono, there has been no improvement in investment service looking at Indonesia’s ranking in Doing Business. But, there are many employers who complain that licensing is considered long, complicated, and expensive.

Adiningsih hoped that licensing procedures and bureaucracy for entrepreneurs who will invest will revive attention. So that Indonesia will not be less competitive than Malaysia and Thailand. According to him, currently, licensing and bureaucracy in Indonesia is still under Malaysia and Thailand, even very farm from Singapore. To balance the two countries, he said that licensing and bureaucracy issues must be completed within one week. And, it is free of costs. Because there are many revenues from other sectors. (E)

Business News - October 31, 2014

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