Local governments asked to be more proactive

Local governments asked to be more proactive

JAKARTA (JP): Minister of Home Affairs Yogie S.M. urged
governments in the region yesterday to be more proactive, which
would enable them to face comprehensive trade liberalization in
the Asia-Pacific region.

The target for trade liberalization has been set for the year
2010 for developed countries and 2020 for developing ones.

Speaking at the opening of a four-day conference on The Role
of Local Governments in Implementing the Asia Pacific Economic
Cooperation (APEC) Declaration at the Horison Hotel in Ancol,
North Jakarta, Yogie advised the governments to be active in
identifying and utilizing every available opportunity in their
areas to produce competitive products.

The conference, attended by about 400 delegates from over 18
countries, is organized by the Asia-Pacific section of the
International Union of Local Authorities (IULA) in cooperation
with the Jakarta Administration and the Ministry of Home Affairs.
The conference aims to help disseminate the results of the APEC
declaration made in Bogor, West Java, last year.

The International Union of Local Authorities is a worldwide
organization of governments that was founded in 1913 to promote
local governments as the cornerstone of democracy and to help
strengthen the governments as instruments for socioeconomic
development.

"The local governments are expected to encourage local
companies to be able to seize the international market
opportunities. They should expand their activities and think
globally," Yogie said.

Yogie said the governments should actively promote potentials
and opportunities available in their regions. "IULA ASPAC as an
international organization is expected to play an important role
in the realization of this," he said.

The central government of Indonesia, he said, has given
priority to investments by taking into account legal aspects and
the interests of the local government itself, including the
introduction of a regulation which concerns capital investment
that does not disturb domestic investors.

Meanwhile, Governor Surjadi Soedirdja admitted that there are
many things which should be improved by his administration to
encourage investors in the trade liberalization era.

"The things that should be improved are service and
bureaucracy. Providing better services is important," he said.

Surjadi said that his administration intends to carefully and
comprehensively simplify the current bureaucratic system so as to
prevent any decisions which may cause loses to the city
administration. Without any improvement, one country could be
left behind the others, he said.

The simplification is expected to be conducted in stages as
soon as possible. If no changes are made, he said, the city would
no longer be attractive to investors.

"There is a chance for the city to play an important role in
the free market era and we have to work hard to fulfill it. On
the contrary, we will only become a spectator of the era if we
cannot adjust our system to the changing conditions," he said.

Surjadi said that the conference is a good forum to learn from
other countries' experiences, so that Jakarta can better prepare
to deal with the upcoming free trade era. (yns)