Japan urges RI to fix infrastructure
Japan urges RI to fix infrastructure
Evi Mariani, The Jakarta Post, Jakarta
The Japanese chamber of commerce and industry, or Keidanren,
urged the Indonesian government to improve the country's
infrastructure in a bid to help lure more investments amid rising
competition, particularly with China.
The demand was among the major points highlighted at the 17th
Indonesia-Japan Joint Economic Committee Meeting on Wednesday, in
which some 40 Japanese business leaders and members of the
Indonesian Chamber of Commerce and Industry (Kadin) participated.
"All the Japanese members (at the meeting) asked the
Indonesian side to improve the infrastructure," chairman of
Indonesia-Japan Economic Committee (IJEC) Tadashi Okamura, who is
also president of electronics giant Toshiba Corp., told a press
conference.
President of PT Sumitomo Indonesia and also chairman of the
Jakarta Japan Club, Takafumi Sone, said that upgrading
infrastructure facilities such as roads, ports and the
electricity and communications systems were crucial in helping
companies operate efficiently.
"For example, Tanjung Priok (Indonesia's main international
port) is very important for Japanese factories here, as they need
to export their products made in Indonesia," he said. "For
instance, there is a possibility that Toyota here may want to
export Kijang (locally made Toyota model) to other countries.
"At the same time, the Japanese government is ready to finance
the improvement of the infrastructure facilities."
Japan is the largest foreign investor in the country.
Foreign investments have been declining over the past several
years due to a number of reasons such as legal uncertainties,
security issues, labor conflicts and poor infrastructure. But
while there are signs of improvement in other areas, the cash-
strapped government has yet to take measures to improve
infrastructure facilities.
Indonesia is facing tough competition with other countries in
the region in luring foreign investment, which is crucial to
boost annual economic growth to 6 percent. A 6 percent growth
rate is needed to help resolve the nationwide unemployment
problem. For the past couple years, growth has only been at a
meager rate of 3 to 4 percent.
Coordinating Minister for the Economy Dorodjatun Kuntjoro-
Jakti, who opened the meeting, acknowledged that improving the
infrastructure facilities here was now high on the government
agenda.
"Since the economic crisis, Indonesia has been neglecting the
development of infrastructure. But the government has now
committed more budget allocation toward this," he told reporters.
President Megawati Soekarnoputri is scheduled to relaunch on
Thursday a number of huge infrastructure projects stalled during
the crisis, including toll road and power projects.
Besides stressing the importance of improving infrastructure,
the Japanese businessmen also asked the government to revise the
existing labor law and to revise immediately the investment law,
which hails from the Dutch colonial era.