RI told to tackle problems outside WTO<\/p>\n
JAKARTA (JP): Indonesia must address its investment,
\ncompetition and environmental problems despite rejecting their
\ninclusion on the agenda of the coming Word Trade Organization
\n(WTO) meeting, experts said yesterday.<\/p>\n
Hasan Kartadjoemena, Indonesia's former ambassador to the
\nGeneral Agreement on Tariffs and Trade (WTO's predecessor),
\nwarned yesterday that sooner or later these contentious issues
\nwould make their way into WTO negotiations.<\/p>\n
\"Indonesia should address these issues domestically because
\nthey will eventually end up on the WTO table as most major
\ntrading countries will continue to push these issues forward,\"
\nKartadjoemena told a seminar hosted by the Indonesian Forum.<\/p>\n
The government has repeatedly said it would block efforts to
\nraise human and labor rights, investment, competition policy,
\ngovernment procurement and other contentious issues at the first
\nWTO ministerial conference in Singapore next week.<\/p>\n
Kartadjoemena commended the government's persistent rejection
\nof efforts to link trade and non-trade issues because Indonesia
\nwas not ready to face the link.<\/p>\n
\"However, in the context of our domestic policy, we must
\naddress them... especially because our economic structure is so
\noligopolistic,\" Kartadjoemena said.<\/p>\n
He said the government must encourage domestic competition to
\novercome monopolies and oligopolies.<\/p>\n
The government must also empower small and medium-size
\nenterprises to help drive the economy and exports, he added.<\/p>\n
\"The fact is that most large businesses here are not exporters
\nbecause they mainly play in heavily protected domestic markets,\"
\nKartadjoemena said.<\/p>\n
Businessman Iman Taufik, an executive of the Indonesian
\nChamber of Commerce and Industry, agreed yesterday saying that
\nmost local businesses were not ready to face free trade.<\/p>\n
Iman said investment liberalization would hurt local business
\nwhile benefiting foreign firms because they would be free to
\nenter all industries.<\/p>\n
\"Just look at the electricity sector, which has been opened to
\nforeign investment. The state electricity firm PT PLN has to bear
\nhigher costs because it is required to buy electricity from
\nprivate generators,\" Iman said.<\/p>\n
He warned the multilateral investment agreement proposed by
\nthe European Union could encroach on the country's economic
\nsovereignty because the government's authority to regulate
\ninvestment would be severely limited.<\/p>\n
If this treaty is adopted by the WTO, it would be
\nautomatically legally binding, requiring member countries to make
\ntheir national policies according to the treaty.<\/p>\n
\"Once it enters the WTO, it will be difficult to change
\nbecause amending a WTO agreement requires the approval of two
\nthirds or three quarters of the membership and also major trading
\ncountries,\" Iman said.<\/p>\n
He said Indonesia should stick to its guns on investment
\npolicy because, once it was regulated by the WTO, stronger
\ncountry's might have a mechanism to economically colonize weaker
\nones.<\/p>\n
\"Therefore investment promotion is a priority, while
\nliberalization must be done through a proper process,\" Iman said.
\n(rid)<\/p>",
"url": "https:\/\/jawawa.id\/newsitem\/ri-told-to-tackle-problems-outside-wto-1447893297",
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"sponsor": "Okusi Associates",
"sponsor_url": "https:\/\/okusiassociates.com"
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