Jakarta, Dec 20 (Antara) - Indonesia's 58 million small and medium
enterprises (SME) which provide employment for more than 90 percent of
the total workforce are not yet ready to face next year's ASEAN Economic
Community (AEC), a legislator has said.
Deputy Chairman of Commission VI on trade, industry and investment
affairs of the House of Representatives (DPR) Heri Gunawan said
Indonesian SME's products are not yet ready to compete in the free trade
era in the ASEAN region which will begin at the end of 2015.
As a main pillar of the people's economic activities, small businesses
must be prepared in the remaining time before the AEC is implemented at
the end of 2015.
The Ministry of Cooperatives and Small-and-Medium Enterprises stated on
its official website last March that there were about 58 million SMEs
in Indonesia. They were being prepared to be able to participate in a
global business environment.
Other data showed that in 2011, SMEs when their numbers were still 51
million, provided employment for some 90 million people, or about 97
percent of the total workforce. They contributed about 53 percent of the
income recorded to the nation's Gross Domestic Product (GNP).
However, it seems that according to legislator Heri Gunawan,
Indonesia's SMEs still need further preparations to face the free flow
of trade and service era.
"Indonesia
can become the largest market for products coming from other ASEAN
countries," Heri Gunawan said to Antara in Sukabumi, West Java, last
Monday.
He
said that Indonesia's SME products still have certain weaknesses such
as in absence of certification and good packaging. In this case
certification institutions will play an important role and SMEs are
expected to register their products.
Breakthroughs
are needed in the field of trade and industry. Commission VI is of the
view that Indonesia needs to take steps immediately, at least SME
products have to be certified.
Gunawan said that his side has conducted a study on the readiness of
SME products to face the free trade. The commission, he said, directly
observed it in the field and found that SMEs were not yet ready.
"Our products should be superior at home but it turns out that even our
people still lack appreciation to our own products because they are not
yet certified and have no attractive packaging while overseas products
looked more attractive even if their quality is lower than those
produced at home," he added.
In
the meantime, legal practitioner Dhaniswara K Hardjono of the
University of Padjadjaran said Indonesia should also prepare legal
framework for its products in the face of the AEC.
"The
government still has to prepare many laws and regulations so as to
prevent various legal and business problems such as agreements and
business disputes when it enters the AEC," Hardjono said on Tuesday.
Dhaniswara
argued that legal certainties must be prepared because the
implementation of the AEC is a common commitment among the ASEAN member
countries. "It should not happen that the legal framework on businesses
is made only after the AEC has been implemented. It should be prepared
before the deadline," he said citing a number of laws and regulations
that are needed such as those regarding consumers' protection,
anti-monopoly and agreements that bind various sides.
All this must be prepared if Indonesia is willing to seize market in
the region. Indonesia must exploit the integration of ASEAN member
states so as to expand its market.
"The
launch of the ASEAN Economic Community 2015 is getting closer.
Indonesia should grab this opportunity to expand its market for
improving the welfare of the people," Foreign Affairs Ministry's
Director General for ASEAN Cooperation I Gusti Agung Wesaka Puja said
meanwhile on Tuesday.
He
made the remark during a media briefing on "Indonesia's Preparation to
Face the ASEAN Economic Community 2015" at the Nusantara Building on
Pejambon street.
Puja
noted there was no need for any apprehension about the implementation
of the AEC 2015 as it will provide a wide range of opportunities that
Indonesia can exploit to expand its market in the ASEAN region.
"Indonesia
has a market potential of 250 million people, while the ASEAN market
has 625 million people. Thus, Indonesia's chances for entering other
wider markets are great," Puja remarked.
Indonesia should take advantage of the implementation of the ASEAN
Economic Community. "The Indonesian market comprises 250 million people,
but the ASEAN market reaches 625 million people. So, we have an
opportunity to tap another wider market, amounting to 375 million," Puja
stated.
He noted that Indonesia could capture markets in the ASEAN countries in
line with Jokowi's vision regarding the establishment of the AEC.
"So, the stability of the domestic economy can be maintained. In
addition, Indonesia also needs to be an important part of the regional
and global production chains," he pointed out.
He also echoed the viewpoint of President Joko Widodo while attending
the ASEAN Summit in Myanmar last November regarding the three main steps
in preparation for the AEC.
The first step involves accelerating infrastructure development and
connectivity within and among the ASEAN countries and the partner
countries. The acceleration of infrastructure development needs to be
carried out in accordance with the Master Plan on ASEAN Connectivity
(MPAC).
The second step entails increased cooperation among the ASEAN member
countries in investment, industrial, and manufacturing areas.
The third step lays emphasis on boosting intra-ASEAN trade, which currently reaches only 24.2 percent.
"Indonesia hopes that during the next five years, the value of
intra-ASEAN trade can reach 35 to 40 percent," Puja affirmed.***2***
(T.A014/b003/B003)
(T.A014/A/BESSR/Bustanuddin) 20-12-2014 23:21 |
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