Cabinet needs improvement

Cabinet needs improvement

The Cabinet plays a vital role since it is the motor that sets the government in motion. Unless the Cabinet functions as it should, we are afraid our economic prospects for this year will not be as good as we would wish. Since investors need to have confidence in the technical capabilities of the Cabinet to perform, bad coordination among ministers will weaken the inflow of investment.

Several bankers and businessmen have assured us that investors would be coming to Indonesia once the Y2K threat has passed, bringing with them (only) about 50 percent of their working capital because the banking sector in this country has not as yet recovered from its crisis. The return of investors to this country, however, will also be determined by such problems as how the Cabinet tackles the economy, the human rights situation, disintegration and the quality of the teamwork among Cabinet ministers.

The inflow of foreign capital, especially for direct investment, helps determine economic growth. We hope, therefore, that our Cabinet ministers can manage to improve its record before they lose the backing of their supporters.

-- Bisnis Indonesia, Jakarta