Jakarta, Nov 25 (Antara) - Indonesia and other ASEAN member countries have made maximal preparations to enter the common free trade era, when the implementation of the ASEAN Economic Community (AEC) will begin on December 31, 2015.
Although many still cast doubts, Indonesia, on its part, says it is now ready to face the AEC as it has completed 94.1 percent of the preparations.
"I think 94 percent is the maximal preparations we have made," President Joko Widodo (Jokowi) stated on the sidelines of the ASEAN Summit in Kuala Lumpur on Sunday.
Therefore, Indonesia is now ready to face the AEC, which will be implemented beginning next January.
"If we calculate all areas that the ASEAN members need to work on, we have completed 94.1 of the required preparations," President Jokowi noted at the Kuala Lumpur Convention Center.
He said that some of the ASEAN members had completed 92 percent, 93 percent, and even 94 percent of the preparations.
"This means that like it or not, everything must be prepared," he affirmed.
Indonesia should be able to derive benefits from the implementation of the AEC.
"We cannot expect to get something (easily). All should be seized." Jokowi remarked.
The Indonesian president emphasized on improving efficiency and competitiveness and stressed on revising regulations that create hurdles.
The president noted that if all aspects are taken into account, then the number of areas that had yet to be worked on could reach several hundred.
According to economic observer Thomas Ola Lagoday of the Kupang-based Widya Mandira Catholic University (Unwira), East Nusa Tenggara, most of the country's industries are not yet ready to face the free AEC era.
"Only a small number of industries at home are ready to compete in the free trade era. Most of them are not ready," Lagoday stated on Tuesday (Nov. 24).
He made the remarks while commenting on the readiness of small- and medium-scale businesses and national industries in the face of the AEC.
On the national scale, the industrial sector should be the biggest contributor to the country's gross domestic product (GDP).
However, currently, only about 20 percent of the industries are able to contribute significantly to the GDP and compete in the free trade era, or in AEC, while the remaining 80 percent cannot yet make a major contribution and are unprepared to face the AEC.
Ola, who is also dean of Unwira, has forecast that Indonesia's industry and service sectors will experience an influx of workers from other ASEAN countries.
This condition can occur as the quality of Indonesian manpower in the industrial and service sectors is still far below the ISO standards. The ASEAN workers, however, will not be interested in the Indonesian primary sector.
"The ASEAN workers will flood Indonesia's industry and service sectors as the quality of Indonesian workers in these fields is still far below the ISO standards. They will not, however, be interested in the country's primary sector," asserted Lagoday.
In the meantime, international observer Guspiarbi Sumowigeno of the Par Indonesia Strategic Research said politicians should discuss the AEC issue in depth as the free trade is now in front of the eye.
Politicians in the House of Representatives (DPR) were never heard indulging in heated debates on the AEC, unlike politicians in the German or British parliaments where such debates are often witnessed on any European Union related decision.
"I hope that President Joko Widodo was in possession of adequate information when he decided to go ahead with the AEC," he said on Tuesday (Nov 24).
He said a decision regarding the interests of the state and the nation should not be based only on inputs from officials in the bureaucracy. So far, only the officials have remained intensively involved in international negotiations with foreign businesses and officials of other countries.
According to him, these officials were the ones who had compiled the reports on the readiness of various Indonesian economic sectors that would be liberalized in the context of the AEC.
Guspiarbi said he prayed for the accuracy of the reports which became the basis of the ministers' recommendations to the President.
Up to the end of July 2015, a total of 463 agreements had been arrived at out of the 506 agreement commitments in the framework of the AEC. A large number of agreements involved a group of senior officials from a number of ministries and institutions who were involved in the intensive negotiations at the ASEAN level.
The observer said there could be always be a risk that, in consideration of a certain reward, a part of the recommendation could have been deliberately formulated to help foreign businesses derive benefit from the Indonesian market at the cost of national interests.
"We should pray that there would be no practices that lean towards corruption within the bureaucratic circles in the context of the ASEAN economic integration," he said.
Such things can happen amid a lack of supervision by the DPR and the economic ministers being replaced, he said.
Responding to complaint of Indonesia's readiness to face the ASEAB free tradem President Joko Widodo (Jokowi) said it saddens him to know that certain people are complaining about it.
"I am sad if there are people who complain of whether we are ready for the AEC era. Within just a month's time, we would be able to identify our products that could be exported," President Jokowi said on Tuesday. He, therefore, called on all sides not to harbor excessive worries.
The President said when he visited Malaysia recently, presidents, prime ministers and ministers of other countries told him they were afraid of being flooded by Indonesian products.
"If some people consider that it is me who is worried, (then) it is a wrong perception. (Rather) others are worried by our products, so why should we be the ones who are worried," he said.
Jokowi said he had assigned his ministers to identify goods that could enter the AEC market.
The President said he had ordered the Trade Minister to set up an export promotion board. An export supporting council will handle supporting matters such as coloring and packaging.
The head of state called on various regional governments and other stakeholders to prepare themselves in the face of the impending AEC.
"Indonesia needs to work hard to seize existing opportunities," he said, adding that it is an era of competition in the world. Only those who are able to compete will survive.***3***(A014/INE)EDITED BY INE(T.A014/A/BESSR/F. Assegaf) 25-11-2015 14:16: |
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