WIDODO EXPECTED TO SIGN LEGISLATIVE LAW SOON

by Andi Abdussalam

Jakarta, Feb 21 (Antara) - President Joko Widodo is expected to soon sign the Legislative Law, locally known as MD3 Law, which has been approved by the House of Representatives (DPR) during its plenary session on Monday (Feb 12).         According to Bayu Dwi Anggono, who is the director of the Pancasila and Constitution Research Center of the Law Faculty of Jember University, the MD3 Law has several points, which have been rejected by the majority of the people.          However, the public cannot file a judicial review with the Constitution Court (MK) if the law has not yet been signed by the president and enacted into law.         "We hope the president will hear the aspirations of the majority of the public, which has rejected several points of the MD3 Law," Anggono was quoted as saying by Kompas.com on Wednesday (Feb 21).          The steps to be taken to follow up the public aspirations should be carried out through constitutional means and the country's state administration practices. Hence, according to Anggono, the president's move to avoid signing the MD3 Law immediately would hamper the public from filing a judicial review with the MK.

IPO CAN PREVENT POLEMICS AT FAMILY COMPANIES

by Andi Abdussalam

Jakarta, Feb 20 (Antara) - Transparency is one of the reasons why family companies are often reluctant to go public through the initial public offering (IPO) while in fact IPO can prevent polemics regarding share ownership at family companies.          According to the Indonesian Employers Association (Apindo), one of the obstacles faced by companies in conducting an IPO is their uncertainty with regard to becoming more transparent, considering that most Apindo members are family companies.          "I see that the obstacle faced is their hesitation in terms of transparency. They are a little less comfortable with the openness," Apindo Chairman Hariyadi Sukamdani said in Jakarta on Tuesday (Feb 20).          They are worried about the transparency, for fear it would cause other problems since transparency will place the company under the public spotlight. In fact, going public would help prevent polemics at family firms.          The Indonesian Stock Exchange (BEI) is of the view that companies which conducted IPO would prevent polemics at family firms especially with regard to share ownership.

INDONESIA MUST HAVE CLEAR CONCEPT TO GO GREEN

By Andi Abdussalam

Jakarta, Feb 19 (Antara) - The Indonesian government is committed to developing environment-friendly energy as part of its efforts to go green and achieve a target of 23 percent renewable energy mix by 2025.         Development efforts in Indonesia must implement the Green Development or Green Economy concepts, which are in essence friendliness to the environment. However, the government should have a clear concept to achieve this target.         According to legislator Irawan Pasaribu of the House of Representatives' (DPR's) Commission VII on environment affairs, the government must have a clear work plan to realize the target of utilizing green energy or renewable energy by 23 percent by 2025.         "One of the efforts that should be made is to support the development of new and renewable energy in potential areas such as West Sumatra," he said during a working visit to Padang, provincial capital of West Sumatra, on Monday.         Currently, according to him, the percentage of energy utilization is only about 12.5 percent, still far from the target of 23 percent.          Virtually, the government has been successful in achieving and exceeding its renewable energy mix target in 2017, after it failed to reach the environment-friendly energy target in 2015 and 2016.

INCLUSION OF COAL PRICE IN POWER TARIFF FORMULA RISKY

By Andi Abdussalam

Jakarta, Feb 17 (Antara) - The government is formulating a new electricity tariff scheme by including the coal reference price (HBA) as one of the elements in the calculation of the basic electricity rate.          The inclusion of the HBA in the new electricity tariff scheme is based on the consideration that some 60 percent of the nation's electricity will still be supplied by coal-fired power plants until 2026.          In its automatic three-monthly electricity tariff adjustment, the government has included three elements of Indonesian Crude Price (ICP), rupiah exchange rate, and inflation in its electricity tariff formula. With the new scheme, the government will reformulate the elements by including the HBA.          However, the inclusion of the HBA elements in the basic electricity tariff structure is considered to be risky and disadvantageous for the state-owned electricity firm PLN.          According to Indonesian Consumers Foundation (YLKI) Chairman Tulus Abadi, the discourse on the reformulation of the electricity tariff by including the price of coal as one of the reference elements is basically very risky if it still refers to the international price.

INDONESIA AIMS TO DEVELOP STARTUPS INTO UNICORN FIRMS

By Andi Abdussalam

Jakarta, Feb 15 (Antara) - Indonesia is upbeat at its potential to develop its startups into unicorn firms, a company with a valuation reaching US$1 billion.         The Ministry of Industry is optimistic about the potential of startups to become fast-growing firms. Therefore, it is partnering with startups to boost the growth of the manufacturing sector.         The government needs to collect data to develop these companies. As regards, the Investment Coordinating Board (BKPM) will compile the data on the startups investment in the country.          The development of startups potential is evident in the development of Traveloka, Bukalapak, Go-jeck, and Tokopedia, which are online service and commerce firms. These firms are able to develop fast, with valuations reaching trillions of rupiah in a relatively short period.         Startups also have big potentials even in the education field. Minister of Communications and Informatics Rudiantara, for example, said that startups in the field of education have the potential to become unicorn firms.         "We have to follow the potential to become a unicorn in Indonesia, first in the field of education," Rudiantara remarked at the Indonesia-Australia Digital Forum 2018 event in Jakarta on Thursday.

INDONESIA PREPARING SECURITY MEASURES FOR ASIAN GAMES

by Andi Abdussalam

Jakarta, Feb 14 (Antara) - Indonesia, which will be receiving about 3,200 athletes and officials from more than 40 countries, is preparing measures to ensure security when it hosts the biggest Asian sporting events next September.          Indonesia will organize the 18th Asian Games in Jakarta and South Sumatran Province's capital city of Palembang from Sept 18 to Aug 2, 2018.         In order to provide security for foreign guests, the Indonesia Asian Games 2018 Organizing Committee  (INASGOC) will involve more than 30 thousand police personnel in four Regional Police Divisions. "The number of personnel to be deployed will be in accordance with security needs, including security in the game fields and non-match arena such as the athletes' homesteads and hotels," Deputy IV of INASGOC Senior Commissioner Unggul Sedyantoro, stated in Jakarta on Tuesday (Feb 13).          The four regional police divisions which will be involved in securing the implementation of the Asian Games in August are Polda Metro Jaya (Jakarta Regional Police), South Sumatra Regional Police, West Java Regional Police, and Banten Regional Police.

TRAWL FISHERMEN TO GET DEBT RESTRUCTURING

by Andi Abdussalam

Jakarta, Feb 13 (Antara) - The government is encouraging trawl fishermen to switch to using environment-friendly fishing gears in an effort to promote sustainable exploitation of fish resources.          As part of its efforts to encourage fishermen to switch to using environment-friendly fishing gears, the government promises to facilitate those having bad credits to get debt restructuring from banks.          The use of trawlers enables fishermen to catch more fish but they significantly damage the environment since they not only trap consumable fish but also the small fish, young crabs, and coral reefs.          In the long run, the use of trawls will lead to the extinction of fish and other marine biota, which will in turn pose difficulties to the fishermen to catch fish as their main source of income.          Trawls could net several types of fish of varying sizes, thereby running counter to the principle of sustainability and the Indonesian fishery policy.          To safeguard and preserve marine resources, the government has issued a regulation through Maritime and Fisheries (KKP) Minister's decree Number 1/PERMEN-KP/2015 which bans the use of trawlers in fishing.