Indonesia must shape up to face competition: Mar'ie

JAKARTA (JP): Minister of Finance Mar'ie Muhammad reiterated yesterday that strengthening Indonesia's competitiveness and resilience is one of the most pressing challenges facing the country amid increasingly keener global competition.

Mar'ie said that overcoming these problems should be Indonesia's foremost priority, stressing that the solution was to strengthen the country's comparative and competitive advantages.

"Competitiveness will become even more complicated when it is linked with issues like democracy, human rights and environment as the developed countries like to do," he said at a ceremony commemorating the 42nd Anniversary of the Airlangga University in Surabaya, East Java.

"At the same time, our own society, which is quickly linking with the world, will continue to compare Indonesia's situation with that outside -- even if the comparison is not always proportional," Mar'ie added.

He said such developments resulted from the country's success in meeting people's basic needs.

People are now demanding quality, particularly freedom of expression, he said.

"Ethics and morals, which are the foundations of a country, will become increasingly high in people's aspirations," Mar'ie said in his speech, a copy of which was sent to The Jakarta Post.

This is not the first time the minister has expressed his views on ethics and morality. Mar'ie, known as "Mr. Clean" by the press, has repeatedly raised issues of good governance and the need for sound and fair business practices.

Mar'ie said development and business had become more complex because moral and ethical dimensions had become a global imperative.

"In politics, economics and business, it is not enough to have a political and economic leadership. A moral leadership is now required," he said.

To achieve good leadership, Mar'ie said, the principles of "rationality, efficiency and morality" should be applied harmoniously.

Mar'ie said a "participative approach" was needed, meaning that people should be allowed to participate more in politics, economics and society.

While Mar'ie considered long-term stability essential, he said there should be more elbow room for people's critical and creative capacities to develop.

Mar'ie said the private sector's bigger role should be seen as positive for national development.

He said the government's role must be redefined and the bureaucracy restructured.

"It is common knowledge that a large, bureaucratic government, which is extremely centralized in its decision-making process, is becoming more and more out of tune with today's developments," he said.

Governments that work best are small organizations which operate like an entrepreneur and are not procedure-oriented, he said.

"Governments must be cost and benefit-oriented and have respect for the public's interest," he said. (pwn)