Economic rulings needed to conform with GATT

JAKARTA (JP): Indonesia needs to introduce economic regulations to conform with the new principles of the General Agreement on Tariffs and Trade (GATT), which will go into effect early next year, Minister of Justice Oetojo Oesman said.

He told reporters after opening a German-Indonesian law seminar here yesterday that Indonesia must adapt its economic regulations to the results of the Uruguay Round of negotiations on GATT if it wants to take part in world trade.

However, he said the modification of regulations should not go against the country's sources of law, the five basic principles of Pancasila and the Constitution of 1945.

The proposed regulation modifications are expected to help Indonesia take part in international arbitration procedures and smooth international trade transactions.

German Ambassador to Indonesia Karl Walter Lewalter told newsmen that the German government expects transparency in Indonesian's economic system and law assurance in its investment system.

Oetojo said the government has issued several policies aimed at improving the transparency of the country's economics system.

The policies include deregulatory measures, reduction of bureaucratic procedures and privatization of companies, Oetojo said.

However, Soeharsono Sagir, an economics lecturer of the Padjadjaran University in Bandung, West Java, said the government's deregulatory measures still show inconsistencies.

The government's latest measures, stipulated in Government Regulation No. 20/1994, for example, are contrary to Article 33 of the Constitution.

He said the regulation, which allows foreign ownership in strategic industries or services, such as seaports, telecommunications, power, railways, civil aviation, nuclear power and mass media, also contradicts Law No. 1/1967 on foreign investments and Law No. 8/1968 on domestic investments. (02)