KKN a stumbling block to investments

KKN a stumbling block to investments

Patrick Guntensperger, Business Consultant, Jakarta,
ttpguntensperger@hotmail.com

As a new government settles in and takes on the Herculean task
of turning the Indonesian economy around, there are a number of
things that must be considered. In the first place, no
significant economic growth is going to take place until the
plague of corruption, collusion and nepotism (KKN) is addressed
and seen by outsiders to be waning. KKN is holding this country
back from a future of unbridled potential.

I have recently done some traveling and every day I am in
communication with people from all over the world. Every
organization or person with whom I discuss these matters reports
the same thing: Indonesia is simply not on his or her radar
screen for investment or even for visiting for one overriding
reason...KKN.

Indonesia's development of a global reputation for something
other than being a hotbed of corruption is critical to her
acceptance as a serious member of the world's community of
economic and cultural exchange. If Indonesia is going to realize
her potential, international awareness of the great things this
country has to offer must be brought about. To raise that
awareness, Indonesia must overcome her well-deserved reputation
for corruption. And that awareness will pay enormous dividends.

We should be investing large sums of money and energy in
foreign trade efforts. Our government should consider dedicating
enormous resources to the introduction of the new Indonesia to
the rest of the world. There should be high profile Indonesian
culture and trade expos at major cities in the west, shamelessly
huckstering for this country.

As a new, democratic government begins to chart a course for
Indonesia in the 21st century, the time is ripe for Indonesia to
capitalize on her unique resources. Let us encourage the western
consumer goods and tourism market to sit up and reconsider their
preconceptions regarding Indonesia.

We need to see the government cooperate with companies in the
consumer goods, travel and tourism, cultural arts and
entertainment businesses to establish a commission dedicated to
the promulgation of uniquely Indonesian products and services to
the Western world.

As an example of the kind of initiative that is needed, a
trade mission that showcases Indonesian culture and Indonesian
products should be created, well organized, funded and launched.
The cultural trade show should feature Indonesian film, music,
painting, sculpture and dance as well as business and investment
opportunities.

An overview of Indonesia's unique mosaic of cultures, history
and geography should be presented in a way that emphasizes her
exoticness to the Western mind. The arrival of the Indonesian
cultural exposition in a city in the West should be a major media
event.

Business owners should be encouraged to join the exposition
and diplomatic representatives should be on board to promote deal
making, to answer investment questions and provide help in
sorting through paperwork. It is critical that the exposition be
professional and impressive...even awe-inspiring. We have the
resources to do it and the message is there if we choose to
spread it.

Of course, we have to re-think the incredibly shortsighted
visa-on-arrival policy that was recently instituted. Our
diplomatic posture should be one of welcoming visitors to this
country rather than one that reeks of suspicion, hostility and
opportunism. It is only with simple, inexpensive and bribe-free
access to business and tourism visas that we will see the steady
flow of visitors and therefore investment that we need.

That means that we have to have government employees who know
what they are doing and who actually do it without having to be
bribed. These officials are the first ones that potential
investors encounter when they arrive in Indonesia; their
professionalism, or lack thereof, sets the tone for an overall
impression of this country.

Right now, that impression is as likely to be one of
incompetence, dishonesty, greed and inefficiency as anything
else. Combine that with a visa policy that sends out the
unmistakable message that visitors are not wanted, and we are
virtually assured of receiving bad reviews in the foreign press.

Right now, most westerners couldn't find Indonesia on a globe.
Most of those who are sufficiently enlightened to have heard of
this country know little more than that she is a poor, tropical
country and, "Doesn't Indonesia always rate as one of the most
corrupt places on earth?" That is a situation that we can change,
if we have the political will to do so.

There is nothing preventing Indonesia from becoming
universally respected and, ultimately, envied. Indonesia has so
much going for her that it is a tragedy of enormous proportions
that we haven't capitalized on the vast number of advantages we
enjoy, but rather, we continue to wallow in KKN, poverty and
internal bickering. The rest of the world watches bemused; those
who are aware of this country can't help but think of what could
be done here if we could only find a leader with a vision, a
population that shares that vision and the political will to
follow through.
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