GPEI seeks foreign trade minister

JAKARTA (JP): The Indonesian Exporters' Association (GPEI) joined the debate on the lineup of the new Cabinet, saying that President Abdurrahman Wahid should name a separate minister in charge of international trade.

While falling short of proposing any candidate, GPEI executive director Rudy Lengkong said on Saturday Indonesia needed a foreign trade minister to represent it in the international trade forum.

"Exporters need someone who can represent them in international trade events and organizations such as the WTO (World Trade Organization)," Rudy told The Jakarta Post.

International trade affairs have been overseen by a director at the Directorate General of Trade in the Ministry of Industry and Trade. Trade and industry affairs were run by two separate ministries until 1994, when then president Soeharto merged them to improve their synergy.

Rudy's proposal amounts to expanding the Cabinet when the general consensus is for a smaller Cabinet to be more efficient.

He argued that a ministry of international trade would be able to fight against unfair treatment or regulations, especially during the globalization era.

He cited Malaysia among the many countries that have a foreign trade minister.

The Ministry of Trade and Industry was too busy to manage international trade affairs effectively with so much of its attention being drawn to deal with domestic issues, he said.

"Domestic trade and industrial problems are too vast to be handled by one minister who also handles foreign economic affairs," Rudy explained.

He criticized the National Agency for Export Development (BPEN) as ineffective because it lacked independence and relied on directives from the Ministry of Trade and Industry.

BPEN should be placed directly under the President to give it more weight and authority, he said. "Other government ministries often ignore BPEN because it is a unit of the Ministry of Trade and Industry."

He suggested that BPEN should be run like the Japan External Trade Organization (JETRO), which succeeded in promoting Japan's exports and helped build the Japanese economy.

The government should include professionals from the private sector, like JETRO has done, to increase BPEN's professionalism, said Rudy, who once chaired the export agency.

When asked whether the government should choose between an independent export agency, or a new ministry for international trade, he said: "If Indonesia wants its exports to grow strong, the government should establish a ministry of international trade as well as detach BPEN from the current ministry." (03)