COOPERATIVES, SMALL BUSINESSES READY TO FACE AEC

By Andi Abdussalam
Jakarta, March 25 (Antara) - Although Indonesia still has to do many things to prepare for the ASEAN Economic Community (AEC), small businesses and cooperatives in the country are now ready to compete in the region's free trade in 2015.          Indonesia's cooperatives and small-and-medium enterprises (SME) are ready to face the ASEAN free trade as long as they build consolidation with cooperatives as they are the key to face the free trade.          "If cooperatives in Indonesia implement the cooperative principles and learn a lesson from advanced countries in developing world class cooperatives, the Indonesian cooperatives are now confident in welcoming the AEC," Cooperatives and Small and Medium Enterprises (SME) Minister Sjarifuddin Hasan said after inaugurating a market under a Traditional Market Revitalization Program in Cianjur, West Java, on Tuesday.          The minister expressed hope that the AEC would encourage all lines of businesses in the country to increase their efficiency in their economic activities, including cooperative activities. The implementation of the AEC will boost competition among countries in the ASEAN region.            "I am convinced that if we solidly build consolidation and work together to face the AEC, we will become stronger and our cooperatives will gain strength, become more efficient and will be able to compete with economic players from other ASEAN countries," the minister said.         As a production-based and single market region, the AEC will be developed under five charters, namely free movement of goods, free services, free investment, free capital flows and free movement of skilled workers.          An official of the Ministry of Industry said previously Indonesia's position in the face of the ASEAN Economic Community (AEC) still raised concerns as it still has homework to do before the AEC is introduced in the end of 2015.         "We are concerned about the position of Indonesia, which is still below that of other ASEAN member countries, such as Singapore, Malaysia and Thailand," Ariyanto Sagala, the head of the industrial quality and policy assessment affairs of the Ministry of Industry, stated in Bali on March 14.         He explained that based on a report by the World Economic Forum (WEF), Indonesia's competitiveness index was ranked 38 in the 2013-2014 period. Previously it was ranked 50th.        "Indonesia's rank in the ASEAN region is still below Singapore, Malaysia, Brunei Darussalam and Thailand," Ariyanto added.         In logistics term, Indonesia's position is also lower than that of Singapore, Malaysia, Thailand, the Philippines and Vietnam. "Besides that, we also have problems relating to human resources' productivity," the official remarked.         Indonesia is the biggest market in the ASEAN region, but if it fails to adopt the correct steps it will only become a market for other countries. Indonesia's population accounts for 40 to 60 percent of the total ASEAN population of 612 million.          However, in the face of this reality, the government will not stay idle but take strategic steps to develop cooperatives and small and medium businesses. The government will create a conducive business climate for them.          "Of course we have the obligation to strengthen the country's SMEs and cooperatives. The steps will include efforts to conduct training so that all SMEs would be familiar with technology. This is because we should be ready to face everything, no matter what conditions we are facing," Minister Sjarifuddin Hasan said.          The minister is aware of the fact that the AEC is now imminent and will be implemented in 2015.          If some raised concerns in the face of the free trade, it is just logical. After all, Indonesia does not basically have a large market share in the ASEAN region, as the values of its intra and extra ASEAN trade were still lower than Singapore, Malaysia and Thailand.          In terms of exports and imports in the ASEAN region, Indonesia has trade surpluses only with Myanmar, Cambodia and the Philippines. Its exports to Myanmar stood at 556.37 million dollars and its imports were worth 73.15 million US dollars.          With Cambodia its exports accounted for 312.41 million dollars and exports 17.84 million dollars. Indonesia's exports to the Philippines are worth 3.81 billion, while its imports stood at 777.38 million.          In other ASEAN countries, Indonesia still suffered trade deficits. Its exports and imports to Thailand stood at 6.06 billion and 10.70 billion, respectively, while to Singapore and Laos they were 16.69 billion and 25.58 billion and 5.85 million and 7.54 million, respectively.          However, businesses in certain sectors in the country, such as the airlines business, have expressed their readiness to face the ASEAN free trade and business era. For example, the nation's flagship aircraft carrier Garuda Indonesia is ready to compete in a free market after the implementation of the ASEAN Economic Community (AEC) in 2015.          "Garuda Indonesia had prepared itself with marketing and operational strategies," General Manager of Garuda Indonesia for Manado branch Piktor Sitohang said.          Garuda had improved services, convenience and security, as well as established alliances with a number of other airlines by joining the SkyTeam, Piktor said .          In the professional field, the Indonesian Accountants Association (IAI) is convinced that the Indonesian accountants are now ready to face professional competition in the ASEAN Economic Community, 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," Deny Poerhadiyanto, director of Communications, Marketing and Business Development of IAI, said on Tuesday.          According to Deny, most of the Indonesian professional accountants who work in the ASEAN countries are public accountants. They work in almost all kinds of industries, including the financial industry.         "The Indonesian accountants are well-known for their honesty and hard working personalities. They formed the character of our nation overseas," Deny noted.          Meanwhile, the Indonesian financial industry has also met the international accountancy standards so that 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.***2*** (T.A014INE) EDITED BY INE (T.A014/A/BESSR/A. Abdussalam) 25-03-2014 22:13: