National car issue<\/p>\n
Referring to Mr. HW Pienandoro's letter (The Jakarta Post,
\nJune 12, 1996) on Car troubles, I would like to say that he
\nmissed the point. It is not the national car which the local
\nmedia and the world are arguing about and which the American
\nAutomobile Manufacturers Association, Europe and Japan are
\ncomplaining about. Instead, it is how the so-called national car
\nis going to be manufactured which is the focus of the objections,
\nbecause the procedure is said to be against WTO, APEC and AFTA
\nrulings.<\/p>\n
Everything has its rules of the game, including the business
\nworld. Korea has kept silent because stand to benefit from the
\narrangement. The Indonesian government, however, has been trying
\nhard to explain to the world that the car policy they are
\npursuing is not violating the WTO agreement. Are we doing things
\nright? Or should we perhaps give some consideration to what the
\nworld has to say about us, because Indonesia is a member of world
\norganizations.<\/p>\n
Prof. Dorodjatun Kuntjoro Djakti, the dean of the Faculty of
\nEconomics at the University of Indonesia, said recently that
\nIndonesia should revise its policy in the industrial and
\nmanufacturing sector and stop thinking about full manufacturing
\nin heavy industries, because we wouldn't be able to compete in
\nworld free trade (Kompas, June 14, 1996). I agree with him.<\/p>\n
There are certain things that we have the potential and the
\ncapacity to do. However, there are also things that we are not
\nready to do, at least for the moment. Why should we rush to
\ncompete in that field when there are still a lot of other things
\nthat we can develop to their full capacities, making them
\nsomething that we can be proud of. As each individual has his own
\nparticular good points, each country has its own strong points,
\nas well.<\/p>\n
JENNY LAURITZ KHOENG<\/p>\n
Jakarta<\/p>", "url": "https:\/\/jawawa.id\/newsitem\/national-car-issue-1447893297", "image": "" }, "sponsor": "Okusi Associates", "sponsor_url": "https:\/\/okusiassociates.com" }