International terrorism issue hinders national economic recovery: Analysts
International terrorism issue hinders national economic recovery: Analysts
Tertiani ZB Simanjuntak, The Jakarta Post, Jakarta
The issue of international terrorism in the wake of the Sept.
11 attacks on the U.S. has complicated Indonesia's attempts at
economic recovery, analysts said on Tuesday.
A noted economist from the Centre for Strategic and
International Studies (CSIS), Mari Elka Pangestu, said
international terrorism had become a key issue the government had
to consider in its attempts to attract foreign investment.
Addressing a one-day conference here, Pangestu pointed out
that even before Sept. 11, the government was aware that
political stability, transparent governance, a consistent
economic policy and good infrastructure were concerns of foreign
investors.
"If the government cannot handle the issue of terrorism,
foreign investment will fall because of the high risk of doing
business in Indonesia. Such a situation will also hamper capital
inflow.
"Terrorism has cost us economically because it has certainly
affected our efforts at economic recovery," she said during the
conference, titled The Economic Cost of Terrorism: Indonesia's
Responses. The conference was organized by CSIS and U.S. Aid for
International Development (USAID).
Indonesia is thought by many to be the country of origin of
members of international terrorist groups, as well as a safe
harbor for international terrorists. Indonesia also has been put
on the list of noncooperative nations in the global movement to
counter terrorism or terrorism-related acts, such as money
laundering and arms trafficking.
It was only recently that Indonesian lawmakers endorsed a
money laundering bill, which is expected to be followed up by the
establishment of a body that will have the authority to
investigate suspected ill-gotten funds or financial resources
used to finance terrorist groups.
The keynote speaker at the conference, Juwono Sudarsono, who
was the minister of defense under president Abdurrahman Wahid,
said Indonesia faced a challenge in reducing the number of people
joining hard-line groups with the potential to threaten the
country's stability.
"Only 10 percent of the Indonesian population (of over 210
million) have access to and enjoy the state's economy. The poor
tend to take shortcuts in obtaining this access by joining hard-
line groups, including Islamic ones. The government should
empower these people. And I'm optimistic that it can be done
within 10 years," he said.
Juwono said the country was in dire need of a leader who did
not only rely on his or her personality, but also had the
capability to develop institutions that would serve as the tools
to transform political visions into concrete policies that could
help improve the country's economy.
Pangestu shared Juwono's opinion, saying it was a common
belief here that Indonesia would not undertake economic reform
unless the International Monetary Fund asked it to do so.
"What we need now is a leader that can create a sustainable
economic recovery to let the capital flow in," she said.
Juwono said Indonesia should respond to the international
issue of terrorism by changing its perception that globalization
only benefited a handful of countries, adding though that no
country should be intimidated by others.
He said that with respect to the international community's
concerns about Indonesia, outsiders should not take the lead in
setting the conditions for the reconciliation of conflicting
groups in troubled regions like Maluku and Aceh.
"It's high time to let the minister of home affairs, not the
minister of foreign affairs, take responsibility for the
government's negotiations with the Free Aceh Movement
separatists. The current situation, in which the foreign ministry
acts as the negotiator, implies that the government recognizes
the Aceh separatist movement as legal," he said.