Bulog says it will change with the times<\/p>\n
JAKARTA (JP): Beddu Amang, the chairman of the National
\nLogistics Agency (Bulog) which regulates the country's food crops
\nand several commodities, says that his office will deregulate its
\nactivities and modify its role in line with international trade
\nliberalization.<\/p>\n
\"A combination of new budgetary realities, new World Trade
\nOrganization rules and major structural changes in the Indonesian
\neconomy in the past quarter century has re-focused attention on
\nBulog's future mission,\" Beddu said yesterday during a seminar
\nsponsored by a traditional critic of the agency, the World Bank.<\/p>\n
More importantly, he said, an open trade regime would help the
\nIndonesian economy to be more efficient and therefore more
\ncompetitive.<\/p>\n
The chairman said that, in the case of Indonesia's main
\nstaple, rice, the agency might still be needed to stabilize
\nprices and secure supply, in order to maintain food security.<\/p>\n
\"We should not lose sight of the important research that has
\ndemonstrated how the stabilization of rice prices made a
\nsignificant contribution to the overall growth of the Indonesian
\neconomy,\" he said.<\/p>\n
Bulog, which was established in 1967, has been credited by
\nvarious analysts with a key role in Indonesia's achievement of
\nrice self-sufficiency in 1984. Indonesia had been the world's
\nbiggest rice importer for decades previously.<\/p>\n
However, the agency's grip on the importation and distribution
\nof wheat, sugar, soybeans and corn has been widely criticized by
\nmany commentators, including the World Bank, as being inefficient
\nand counter-productive.<\/p>\n
Several participants in yesterday's seminar, including
\neconomist Martin Panggabean, also criticized the agency for never
\npublishing its accounts.<\/p>\n
Beddu said yesterday that Bulog would soon deregulate various
\nnon-rice commodities over which it currently exercises monopoly
\ncontrol.<\/p>\n
\"The case for deregulation of the feed and livestock sector is
\nclearer...a high cost-feed industry is a major burden in
\ndeveloping an efficient agri-business sector,\" he admitted.<\/p>\n
That view was echoed yesterday by Bulog's Chrisman Silitonga.<\/p>\n
\"It is evident that under trade restrictions (in the form of
\nimport licensing) the government has sacrificed consumer welfare
\nby taxing imported soybeans and soymeal,\" Chrisman said in a
\npaper he presented to the seminar.<\/p>\n
Beddu also said yesterday that Bulog would address the
\ntransparency issue, adding that his agency did not want to be
\n\"part of the high-cost economy.\"<\/p>\n
\"As a first step, more transparent management of Bulog's
\ntrading activities will be instituted,\" he said.<\/p>\n
Beddu warned, however, that \"Bulog does not expect to be
\nprivatized as part of a deregulation drive\".<\/p>\n
He said providing food security was a public sector role that
\nhad to be implemented by a public sector body funded by public
\nsector revenues. (hdj)<\/p>",
"url": "https:\/\/jawawa.id\/newsitem\/bulog-says-it-will-change-with-the-times-1447893297",
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"sponsor": "Okusi Associates",
"sponsor_url": "https:\/\/okusiassociates.com"
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