Local businesses urged to be more active

Local businesses urged to be more active

Leony Aurora, The Jakarta Post, Jakarta

Local businesses here need to get more involved in the making of
national trade rules and regulations in order to help create a
pro-business environment and improve the business climate, says
the International Chamber of Commerce (ICC).

ICC's secretary general Maria Livanos Cattaui told a press
conference on Monday that local businesses here had not played a
significant role in devising policy and regulations.

"I'm here to invite them to participate more," she said.

Maria further explained that it was not in ICC's capacity to
interfere at the national level by making suggestions directly to
the government, but rather to work with local players so that
they, in turn, could push for better regulations.

"We help them (local businesses) to clarify those areas that
will be most helpful to them to work with the government," said
Maria.

The relatively unfavorable business climate here is a major
obstacle in luring investment, both domestic and foreign. But, by
getting more involved in the making of trade regulations, the
chances are better that those regulations will be more in line
with what the business community needs.

Their participation could be in the form of recommendations or
inputs from the business community to the government and House of
Representatives, before and during deliberations.

ICC was established in 1919 and draws members from 120
nations, and focuses its consultancy on setting rules and
standards for international transactions, drafting model
contracts and establishing other codes and disciplines.

Members of the ICC get continuous updates on prevailing
international business customs and can ask for assistance from
the organization's arbitration court in the case of disputes.

In Indonesia, the ICC's national committee had been a part of
the Indonesian Chamber of Commerce (Kadin) since the 1950s up
until 2002. Kadin's chairman was automatically the president of
the national committee and Indonesia's representative to the
worldwide organization.

However, after reviewing its development in light of Kadin's
other programs, the ICC national committee separated from Kadin
in September 2003 and now stands independently. "Kadin's job is
to improve the performance of all companies in the country, while
ICC deals only with businesses relating to foreign business," ICC
Indonesia's president Noke Kiroyan said recently.

Currently there are 25 companies already enlisted as members
of ICC Indonesia. "We hope to get 50 new members in 2005," said
Noke.

Elsewhere, the secretary general also called for Indonesia to
wage war on copyright piracy, which costs industries worldwide
some US$600 billion per year, and to enforce already existing
copyright laws.

Meanwhile, to assist the reconstruction of the tsunami-
stricken province of Nanggroe Aceh Darussalam, Maria said the ICC
had made an appeal to all the chambers around the globe through
its world chambers' federation, a specialized division of ICC.

"The funds that we'll collect will not go to immediate
humanitarian help," said Maria, without specifying the amount
already committed to this program. "We're looking down the line
at the necessity to reconstruct small local business."