Improving prosperity through DPLK
Improving prosperity through DPLK
The globalization era is at Indonesia's doorstep, presenting
pension funds with many opportunities and challenges. In this
era, from a social-cultural angle, the people are becoming more
independent and their sense of entrepreneurialism is much higher.
One of the means to have a secure future is by joining the
Department of Finance Pension Fund (DPLK).
Economically, increased living costs have encouraged people to
join DPLK, even if they are already members of the Workers'
Pension Fund. In the future, it will be the people's improved
education background which will make them realize the importance
of pension programs for their well-being, which, in turn, will
present opportunities for the development of pension funds.
In the free market era, a joint venture between a domestic and
multinational/overseas insurance company will give DPLK a chance
to prepare itself well to receive transfer of technology and
knowledge in order to obtain professional human resources and to
have a more competitive fund.
At the moment, there are 25 DPLK companies, which consist of
seven public banks and 18 life insurance companies. Therefore,
according to Director of the Department of Finance Pension Fund,
Donesius Manalu, DPLK has a great chance to develop.
From a mortality aspect, longer life expectancies will give
longer working periods and provide more time to pay
contributions, so that the accumulation of contributions will
increase, too. In this case, the DPLK founder will have to make a
pension formula to attract people without neglecting the rules
and regulations applied by the government.
The pension formula comprises regulations in which it should
cover investment, which should be secure and yet profitable with
regard to a reasonable period, contributions and operational
expense. The formula, a special service of each DPLK provider, is
an important factor in determining competition. An inefficient,
unattractive DPLK will give less benefits to customers and have
higher operational costs.
At the moment, pension fund development is being hindered on
many sides, such as lower incomes and an economic crisis suffered
by most Indonesians. Their income is only sufficient to fulfill
their daily needs.
A low education background has made people unaware of, and not
understand the need for a pension program for the future.
Therefore, a strategy is needed to increase pension fund
development by improving professionalism in managing pension
funds with qualified human resources, good investment management
and cost efficiency, so that funds will be able to face the
challenges of the globalization era.
The government, pension fund providers and professional
associations should be more active in introducing this program to
people. Therefore, Donesius is of the opinion that a recovery of
Indonesia's economic condition is a must in order to support the
development of the program.