Drastic steps needed to restore our economy

Drastic steps needed to restore our economy

We appreciate the readiness of President Megawati Soekarnoputri and Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono to explain their respective economic programs during the dialog with domestic and foreign businessmen in Jakarta on Monday.

This daily, however, believes that the two presidential candidates have failed to give the business world assurances.

Moderator John A Prasetyo said the two presidential candidates' economic programs failed to address the real problems of "3Ls+1I" -- the labor, legal, local and infrastructure sectors.

Labor in Indonesia has turned into a handicap in business development as existing regulations prioritize worker welfare rather than productivity.

There has been uncertainty in the country's legal sector as law enforcers tend to sell the law for their own vested interests.

Local affairs, such as provincial autonomy, have merely complicated the bureaucracy as investors have been required to pay US$1,300 and wait for 151 days to obtain an investment permit.

Infrastructure is another problem for investors who want to do business in Indonesia. There has been no new infrastructure, including in energy and transportation, built since the onset of the economic crisis in 1997.

Both Megawati and Susilo do not seem to see 3Ls+1I as problems. They touched on them but did not really address them.

Those in business understand well that the problems cannot be solved overnight. They only wanted the two presidential candidates to give a clear answer as to where they intended to lead the country and how it would get there.

Economist Faisal Basri said that what we have been through is a critical economic state. We no longer need ordinary steps to revive our ailing economy, but drastic ones. We badly need substantial commitment to restore the economy.

-- Kompas, Jakarta