Expo organizers ask govt to ease licensing procedures
Expo organizers ask govt to ease licensing procedures
JAKARTA (JP): The Association of Indonesia Trade Exhibition
Promoters (Asperapi) appealed to the government on Wednesday to
simplify the licensing procedures for holding trade fairs and
exhibitions in the country.
The association's chairman Herman Wiriadipoera said that the
existing procedures for obtaining exhibition permits were too
complicated.
Herman said that trade exhibition organizers were required to
obtain two kinds of licenses from the Ministry of Trade and
Industry.
The first license, which is called a provisional permit, is
issued as an initial approval for the holding of a trade fair or
exhibition. The second permit, called a definitive permit, is
issued only after the organizer completes all the preparations,
including the list of confirmed participants.
"The existing procedures do not only waste time but also
encourage red tape because exhibition organizers have to make
illegal payments to speed up the licensing process," said an
association member, who refused to be named.
He explained that obtaining a final permit was much more
complicated and time consuming than a provisional one because the
issuance of the permit involved a number of government
institutions such as the Ministry of Finance, the Ministry of
Justice and Human Rights, the Attorney General's Office, the
Ministry of Foreign Affairs, the National Police, the relevant
regional police force, and the National Intelligence Agency, the
executive said.
Herman asserted that exhibition organizers should only be
required to obtain one permit and that the issuance of this
permit should be handled solely by the Ministry of Trade and
Industry.
Asperapi had 250 members all over Indonesia at the end of
2000, with eight chapters in eight major provinces. The
association plans to establish more chapters in North Sulawesi,
Riau, East Kalimantan and West Sumatera.
Herman said the association's members held 116 exhibitions in
2000, while this year they planned to organize 178 exhibitions,
15 percent of which would involve international participation.
The number of exhibitions dropped from approximately 180 to 31
in 1998 due to the economic mayhem at that time, but the number
started to rebound in 1999 with 68 exhibitions.
He also said that revenues from this year's exhibitions would
reach Rp 700 billion, excluding hotel and transportation expenses
as well as the value of transactions conducted during the
exhibitions.(05)