Government told to rein in retail expansion<\/p>\n
Zakki P. Hakim, Jakarta<\/p>\n
The government must limit the number of modern retailers in urban
\nareas to protect traditional markets and shops, according to a
\ntop official of PD Pasar Jaya, which operates traditional markets
\nin Jakarta.<\/p>\n
PD Pasar Jaya director Prabowo Soenirman said the current
\nregulations must also be revised as the \"situation has
\ndrastically changed\", and many modern retailers had violated the
\nregulations by setting up outlets in close proximity to
\ntraditional markets.<\/p>\n
\"The realities in the field are totally different today,\"
\nPrabowo told The Jakarta Post on Wednesday, saying several modern
\nretail outlets are located as close as 200 meters from
\ntraditional markets.<\/p>\n
Jakarta has a bylaw that stipulates that minimarkets must be
\nlocated outside a radius of 0.5 kilometers from traditional
\nmarkets, while hypermarkets must be outside a radius of 2.5
\nkilometers. The bylaw also requires that minimarkets not price
\ntheir goods lower than goods in traditional markets in their
\narea.<\/p>\n
\"Conditions have changed, so the bylaw must be reviewed for
\nthe benefit of all stakeholders,\" Prabowo said.<\/p>\n
The Central Statistics Agency, in its 2003 National Labor
\nForce Survey, reported that jobs in the retail sector during the
\nyear declined by 7.42 percent to 4.24 million from 4.58 million
\nin 2002.<\/p>\n
The agency suggested that this might have been the result of
\nthe rapid expansion of modern retail outlets such as hypermarkets
\nand minimarkets, causing many traditional grocery stores to close
\ndown because they could not compete.<\/p>\n
Industry analyst Yongky Surya Susilo of AC Nielsen
\nacknowledged that the market share of traditional shops had been
\ndeclining since 2000, while the share of modern retail outlets
\nhad increased.<\/p>\n
But he said the expansion of modern retail outlets was
\ninevitable because it was linked to changing lifestyles in urban
\nareas.<\/p>\n
\"It is inevitable, more and more people are turning to modern
\nretailers. It is a matter of lifestyle,\" he said.<\/p>\n
Yongky said the government could lessen the impact by limiting
\nthe location of modern retailers to the outskirts of the city.
\nSuch strict zoning was applied in other countries such as
\nMalaysia, he added.<\/p>\n
But Yongky said that traditional grocery stores must
\neventually adopt modern retail strategies in order to survive,
\nwhile acknowledging that traditional stores would encounter skill
\nand capital gaps.<\/p>\n
French-based hypermarket operator Carrefour dismissed
\nsuggestions that modern retailers were the cause of job losses in
\nthe retail sector.<\/p>\n
Carrefour's human resources director, Agoes Adhie, said the
\nfirm's hypermarkets employed a huge number of workers.<\/p>\n
\"One Carrefour outlet can absorb an average of 500 workers,\"
\nhe said, adding that many small and medium-sized businesses also
\nopened outlets on the hypermarkets' premises.<\/p>\n
He acknowledged, however, that his company only hired people
\nwith a minimum of a high school education.<\/p>\n
More than half of the country's workforce are primary school
\ngraduates.<\/p>\n
Carrefour and other modern retailers such as Matahari, Hero
\nand Indomaret are among the most successful retailers in the
\ncountry.<\/p>\n
Vivien Goh, corporate secretary of PT Hero Supermarket, said
\nmodern retailers provided numerous employment opportunities.<\/p>\n
She said that Hero's Giant hypermarkets supported about 500
\nvendors operating around and inside each store, as well as some
\n1,000 small and medium-sized businesses that supplied goods to
\nthe hypermarkets.<\/p>",
"url": "https:\/\/jawawa.id\/newsitem\/government-told-to-rein-in-retail-expansion-1447893297",
"image": ""
},
"sponsor": "Okusi Associates",
"sponsor_url": "https:\/\/okusiassociates.com"
}