Employment of expatriates to be eased
Employment of expatriates to be eased
JAKARTA (JP): The government will ease restrictions on the
employment of expatriates for jobs which cannot be handled by
Indonesians in a bid to promote foreign investments in the
country, Minister of Information Harmoko said here yesterday.
"President Soeharto instructed related government institutions
to allow the employment of expatriates without any financial
charges if local professionals are unavailable for certain
positions," he told reporters after a limited cabinet meeting on
the economy at the Bina Graha office here.
According to the Central Bureau of Statistics, the number of
expatriates working for domestic and foreign companies steadily
increased from 18,000 in 1984 to 37,663 in 1992 due to a shortage
of local skilled professional managers, while the number of
investment projects was increasing.
Several companies said that a lack of qualified local
personnel has forced them to hire expatriates.
Harmoko explained that the President instructed the ministries
of industry and manpower and the Investment Coordinating Board
(BKPM) to formulate measures to ease the employment of
expatriates, particularly for jobs which cannot be handled by
Indonesians.
According to Governmental Decree No. 23/1974, companies
established by domestic and foreign investors are allowed to
employ foreigners for certain jobs within a certain period of
time after getting permits from the Ministry of Manpower, but
they must train Indonesian personnel to replace the expatriates.
If the employment of expatriates lasts longer than the designated
period, the employers must pay fees to the government, which will
use the fees for training Indonesian personnel.
"The employment of expatriates should be freed from any
levies," Harmoko said.
He did not specify whether the easing of restrictions will
mean abolishing of the fees for training Indonesian personnel.
Harmoko said the planned measure is necessary to promote
foreign investment in the country.
Data at BKPM show that foreign investments approved by the
government during the first seven months of this year reached
US$14.7 billion, as compared to $8 billion in the whole year of
1993 and $10 billion in 1992.
Inflation
Harmoko said yesterday that President Soeharto also expressed
concern over last month's high inflation, which reached 1.37
percent due to the sharp increases in the prices of food and
housing costs.
"The 6.05 percent increase in the prices of grains and the
3.05 percent rise in beverage prices caused the index of food
prices to increase by 1.57 percent last month," he said.
He said housing costs increased by an average of 1.42 percent
last month and the prices of services by 1.23 percent, while the
prices of clothing rose 0.42 percent.
Last month's high increase in consumer prices brought the
country's inflation to 5.96 percent during the first seven months
of this year, he said.
The government, under its Sixth Five Year Development Plan,
aims at curbing inflation at a maximum of five percent in the
coming five years.
Rice
The minister said Soeharto also expressed concern over
increases in rice prices in spite of the fact that supplies are
adequate.
"The prices of medium-class rice rose by 4.3 percent to an
average of Rp 664 (30.64 U.S. cents) per kilogram," Harmoko said.
He acknowledged that this year's dry season has affected
246,000 hectares of rice fields, of which 64,000 hectares are
damaged. "But the impact of this year's dry season is not as
severe as that in 1991, when 843,000 hectares were affected,
including 190,000 hectares of damaged fields," he said.
This year's dry season will not end until November.
"The rice price hikes have been caused mainly by the over-
publication of the impact of the dry season by television
broadcasters," he said.
"The supplies of rice are actually adequate but the buffer-
stocking system is apparently less than effective," he added.
He said the President, therefore, instructed the National
Logistics Agency (Bulog) to take measures to stop increases in
rice prices.
Harmoko said the meeting also reported that Indonesia enjoyed
a trade surplus of $591.8 million in May from its exports of
$3.19 billion, while its imports reached only $2.6 billion.
The revenues from the May exports included $756 million from
oil and gas exports and $2.43 billion from non-oil exports, he
said.
During the first five months of this year, the country gained
a trade surplus of $2.92 billion from its exports of $14.82
billion because its imports were recorded at $11.9 billion, he
added.
The minister said the meeting also reported the country's plan
to build 31 fishing vessels, which will be leased to fishermen,
with Spanish aid of $200 million. (riz)