Jakarta, Oct 16 (Antara) - Described as having 40 percent of ASEAN's
economic resources or the Greater ASEAN, Indonesia should be able to use
the 600 million population of the region as its market base.
If Indonesia fails to garner the benefits of the ASEAN free trade when
the ASEAN Economic Community (AEC) is implemented in 2015, it will only
become a market for other nations in the region.
Chief Economic Minister Chaerul Tanjung stated that currently,
Indonesia has a population of 250 million. With the implementation of
the AEC, its market will increase to 600 million. Thus, all sides,
including the central and regional governments, should prepare
themselves to face the competition.
"We should not merely compete, but win the competition in free trade
when the AEC will be implemented by the end of 2015," Minister Chaerul
Tanjung remarked in Ambon, Maluku, on Wednesday.
In fact, Indonesia is now ready to face the AEC as not all sectors will automatically be open to trade and service.
"The AEC does not mean that all the sectors will be entirely open to
trade and service. Therefore, Indonesia is now 95 percent ready to face
the ASEAN free trade," the minister noted.
After all, the free trade that will be implemented in 2015 has, in principle, been taking place in Indonesia.
He pointed out that Indonesia has basically applied 95 percent free trade.
"This condition will be similar to the AEC conditions, meaning that we are now ready to face it," remarked the minister.
However, the minister proposed that the central and regional
governments should prepare themselves to face the global competition.
"The important thing now is that the regional governments and the
people should prepare themselves and reinforce their products with the
mainstay goods," Chaerul Tanjung stated.
Indonesia still lacks mainstay products. According to Executive
Chairman of the Indonesian Communications and Information Technology
Council (ICITC) Ilham Habibie, Indonesia needs more mainstay products in
order to compete in the AEC.
"We,
in Indonesia, still lack mainstay goods as the local champion products.
We should design products such as Japan's Toyota cars or similar to
what South Korea has done with its technology and information products,"
Ilham Habibie stated last Friday.
He
pointed out that a supporting system should be put in place in order to
create local champion products, which cannot be achieved by private
companies. Hence, standardization by the government is a must.
With
regard to standardization in the development of a product, regulation
is an important factor, and the standard should already be made
available before the product is manufactured, he emphasized.
Alwy Pontoh, a local official of the North Sulawesi Trade Office, noted
that the application of the Indonesian National Standard (SNI) to goods
produced by small and medium industries will increase competitiveness
to ensure that we are better prepared to face the AEC in 2015.
Pontoh remarked that the national standard applied to industrial products will help to make them more efficient.
"In addition, the production process will be optimal as it will reduce
waste and save energy and costs. Moreover, the products will be able to
compete with those produced by the other countries," he added.
According
to Pontoh, the products that have high competitiveness will be able to
penetrate both the domestic and international markets. Moreover, in
2015, the Southeast Asian countries will face the AEC.
In
the meantime, young Indonesian entrepreneurs are also being challenged
to compete in the AEC, stated the Junior World Entrepreneurship Forum
(JWEF).
According to a press statement released by the JWEF Chapter of
Indonesia on Saturday, it was preparing young entrepreneurs by
organizing seminars, talk shows, and workshops, so that they will be
able to gain a better understanding about the available international
opportunities.
"One
of the activities of the JWEF Chapter Indonesia is holding a seminar,
talk show, and workshops on 'Moving Forward to Global Entrepreneurship'
for two days in Bandung, West Java," JWEFH Chapter Indonesia chairman
Hafiz Hudani revealed.
Further, WWEF Chapter Indonesia Adviser Wawan Dhewanto remarked that
his organization was expected to serve as a forum for young
entrepreneurial communities that are able to contribute to creating
entrepreneurship skills for Indonesians seeking to participate in the
free trade era.
Therefore,
he was optimistic that young Indonesian entrepreneurs will be able to
form a network with their counterparts in various parts of the world.
Besides standardization and entrepreneurship skills, innovations are
also direly needed in the free trade era. Thus, innovators will play a
significant role. In this case, Indonesian innovators are ready to face
the AEC, Chairman of the Indonesian Industry Innovation Forum Puguh
Iryanto stated.
"As innovators, we are excited about the implementation of the AEC.
Hopefully, in 2016, our innovations will make inroads into Malaysia and
Thailand," noted Puguh, who is also a member of the Indonesian Trading
and Industry Chamber.
He expressed optimism that Indonesia will be able to compete with the
other ASEAN member countries such as Thailand, Malaysia, and Singapore
that have ably prepared themselves to face the AEC.
"Our
innovators are actively searching for new applied inventions for the
communities, such as through the research exhibition organized by the
Indonesian Institute of Sciences (LIPI)," Puguh remarked.
The forum has offered the provincial administration of East Java to
create a Techno Village, in which a simple technology can be applied to
improve the competitiveness of the society.
"We
have been challenged to establish a self-sufficient food and energy
village by January 2015. We are establishing such a village in Jember by
utilizing simple applied technologies. Bojonegoro will be the next
project location," Puguh stressed.
Other
professionals in fields, such as accountancy, have also prepared
themselves. The Indonesian Accountants Association (IAI) is convinced
that Indonesian accountants are now ready to face professional
competition in the AEC, which will begin next year.
"Many
Indonesian accountants who already have state registration numbers have
worked as professional workers in Vietnam, Cambodia, or Laos. Not to
mention the fact that they work under the Association of Chartered
Certified Accountants (ACCA) scheme," Director of Communications,
Marketing and Business Development of IAI Deny Poerhadiyanto recently
stated.
He
revealed that the Indonesian financial industry also met the
international accountancy standards, and hence, many foreign accountants
have also been working in Indonesia.
"Foreign
accountants working in Indonesia included those from the Philippines,
Bangladesh, India, Hong Kong, and Nigeria," Deny pointed out.
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(T.A014/INE/o001)
EDITED BY INE
(T.SYS/A/BESSR/O. Tamindael) 16-10-2014 12:17 |
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