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)