Jakarta, May 26 (Antara) - Indonesia, which is a major player in the
Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN), must accelerate its
preparations to face the region's market integration in 2015.
Described
as having 40 percent of the region's economic resources or the Greater
ASEAN, Indonesia must improve the competitive edge of its products and
services, improve its human resources and prepare regulations.
When
the ASEAN Economic Community (AEC) is implemented in 2015, not only
commodities and services will move freely within the region but also
other products, including manpower.
In this case, Indonesia must prepare itself to improve the quality not
only of its goods and services but also of its human skills, so that it
would not serve as a mere market for other countries in the region. It
should also become a big exporter of skilled workers. After all,
Indonesia has a population of about 240 million.
"To
face the AEC's formation in 2015, Indonesia needs to increase its
competitive power," ASEAN Competitiveness Institute Chairman Soy Pardede
said during a seminar on Indonesia Banking Expo (IBEX 2013) at the
Jakarta Convention Center in Jakarta on Friday.
According to him, Indonesia has a big population and competitive power
with abundant human resources to become a major player in the ASEAN
Economic Community in 2015.
Besides, he added that unlike other ASEAN countries, Indonesia also has
abundant natural resources and strategic geographic position.
"Therefore,
all parties, including business makers, the government, the House of
Representatives and the Business Competition Supervisory Commission
should cooperate to support Indonesia to become a main player for
AEC-2015," he said.
Thus, there is no reason for Indonesia to be concerned in the face the
ASEAN market integration which will be implemented in the next two
years.
"The ASEAN Free Trade is not a threat but a big opportunity," Chairman
of the Indonesian Chamber of Commerce and Industry (Kadin) Suryo Bambang
said on Saturday.
Suryo made the remarks in response to the concerns of a number of
people who questioned Indonesia's readiness to face the ASEAN Economic
Community (AEC) in 2015.
He said that it was logical if some questioned Indonesia's readiness
because up to now the government and the private sector had not yet
shown integrated preparations in the face of AEC.
The same opinion was also voiced by state-owned bank BNI economist Ryan Kiranto.
"AEC poses both challenges and opportunities. So, we may not remain
silent and just complain but make ourselves ready to face the
implementation of the AEC," Ryan Kiryanto said in a seminar on Indonesia
Banking Expo (IBEX) 2013 at the Jakarta Convention Center on Friday.
He said that AEC enhances the existing free trade. If the previous free
trade only covers products, the AEC is enhanced to also cover other
sectors of service, investment and manpower.
Ryan said that Indonesia so far was known as the Greater ASEAN because
Indonesia had 40 percent of the region's economic resources. Therefore,
the Indonesian economic players should be ready to face the AEC.
"At
present, there have been many foreign workers and consultants who have
entered Indonesia. This is actually a chance for Indonesia to also enter
other countries. The question is that how high is its competitiveness?"
he questioned.
To allow equal and fair movement of manpower within the region, ASEAN
needs to have commitment to prepare human resources.
According to Manpower and Transmigration Minister Muhaimin Iskandar,
the commitment of ASEAN member countries to prepare their human
resources is a key to success in the face of the ASEAN Economic
Community in 2015.
"The
joint efforts of ASEAN member nations to increase the quality of their
human resources must be made with a standardized training and work
competence. This would serve as a barometer for the advancement of
cooperation in the region," Minister Muhaimin Iskandar said after
opening the 9th Senior Labor Officials' Meeting (SLOM) of ASEAN in
Semarang, Central Java, on Tuesday last week (May 14).
Muhaimin said that if a standardization of human resources quality was
not prepared since the beginning, ASEAN will have problems in the face
of global challenges and competitions from advanced nations.
Therefore, standardization of human resources' competence should soon
be prepared to shape the future of ASEAN in the face of globalized
world. All ASEAN members should prepare skills, expertise and work
competence standards.
"We would like to remind educators in all ASEAN members of the need to
include in their curricula subjects on the standards of international
work competence," noted Muhaimin.
He said that education, courses, trainings, vocational schools and
universities must pay attention to the work competence standards at
least for the ASEAN level so that all educational curricula in ASEAN
would meet the standards and would be recognized at the international
level.
With regard to investment, bank BNI economist Ryan Kirnto said AEC also
offers opportunities to Indonesia because its investors could make
their investment within the region. Therefore, Ryan said, Indonesia
needed to make mature preparations and cooperation between the
government and industries.
"However, banks and industries in Indonesia should continue to give
priorities to domestic penetration so that domestic industries would
remain the master in their own houses. They should not be trapped by
the euphoria of investment overseas," Ryan said.
Therefore,
according to Kadin Chairman Suryo Bambang, Indonesian business world
should remain optimistic about the AEC and will not make it a zone of
unhealthy competition.
"It is expected that each ASEAN member will benefit from the free
market and we hope that our business world will continue to improve its
competitive edge," said Suryo.
The other aspect that has to be prepared in the face of the market integration in the region is regulation.
Foreign Minister Marty Natalegawa said in an ASEAN summit in Brunei
Darussalam recently that member countries needed to prepare regulations
to face the implementation of the AEC in 2015.
"The ASEAN member countries are now in the phase of accelerating their
preparations in the run-up to the AEC 2015. They need to prepare
regulations regarding the implementation of AEC in 2015," Marty said.
"It is not merely adopting an agreement but also implementing it. In
the following phase, when we already reach 100 percent, we should assure
that all commitments are connected to the law and national
regulations," he said.
He said that Indonesia now was continuing to make preparations in the face of the AEC 2015. ***3***
(T.A014/S012)
(T.SYS/A/A. Abdussalam/Suharto) 26-05-2013 13:03 |
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