Anticipating the worst
Anticipating the worst
As has been reported, General Motors Corp., a giant American
car producer, is suspending its plans for additional investments
in Indonesia. The company previously invested US$110 million for
the assembly of Cherokee and Opel Blazer vehicles.
Ironically, the announcement by the company's chief of Asia
and Pacific operations, Donald Sullivan, was made at the same
time as his announcement of the company's plan to invest $750
million in Thailand for the manufacture of a "car for Asia".
Thailand is a potential major competitor of Indonesia in the
marketing of goods and services and in attracting investments
from the global market.
The suspension of additional investments in Indonesia,
according to Sullivan, is because General Motors "has been very
disappointed by recent developments in the national car (program)
because it truly creates an unlevel playing field". Presidential
Decree no. 2/1996, which grants tax exemptions to only one
producer to manufacture a "national car", was named as the reason
for this uneven competitive condition in the national car market.
To mention all this is not to say that they are right. Our
interests and theirs will always be different. We also could say
that all that does not interest us. The fact is that even though
for almost two decades world-class car producers have been given
the chance to do business in this country, nothing meaningful has
been accomplished by them in terms of supporting the growth of a
national car industry.
The problem, however, is that it is often not possible for us
to look at things that simple. In the present wide-open world
economy, when competition has become so fierce and transparent
and the interconnection between one interest and another is often
not very clear, it is impossible for us to view things only in
terms of black or white.
With regard to our car manufacturing policy which has received
strong reactions from a number of our trading partners, our
interest is in minimizing any possible damage. That means that,
if we are confident that we are on the right track with this
policy and that it will benefit our economy, then we must
implement it in all earnest. Of course we cannot simply ignore
our trading partners' objections, their complaints and
disappointments. That could cause new problems that are just as
knotty as the present one.
Even more, perhaps we must prepare ourselves to face the worst
-- if Japan does take the case to the World Trade Organization or
if the U.S. persists in rejecting our views. Just one question:
Do we, for example, have lobbyists to soften America's stance, or
good lawyers to repel any charges that might be made against us
on an international forum?
-- Kompas, Jakarta