Looking for vision in troubled times

Looking for vision in troubled times

Nirwan Idrus, Executive Director, Indonesian Institute for
Management Development, Jakarta

The joint Indonesian-Australian and Australian-Indonesian
Business Councils Annual Conference held in Bali recently was for
all practical purposes, very successful.

The Coordinating Minister for the Economy, Dorodjatun Kuntjoro
Jakti and the Minister for Industry and Trade, Rini Soewandi and
Graeme Robertson, an Australian-born naturalized Indonesian
businessman, were almost the only three out of many speakers at
the conference who attempted to look for the positives out of the
problematic environment, business or otherwise, in Indonesia at
the moment.

This probably reflected, as claimed by Dorodjatun, the new and
perhaps uncontrollable freedom of speech that Indonesia is not as
yet used to.

Some may see this as "Indonesia Bashing". An array of
prominent Indonesian speakers rattled out stinging attacks at the
Indonesian government on both days of the conference. Noted ex-
Presidential spokesperson, Wimar Witoelar apparently started the
attack on the first day of the conference. Followed by
conglomerate Jusuf Wanandi, economic analyst Sjahrir, activists
Andi Mallarangeng and Todung Mulya Lubis, H.S. Dillon as well as
Sofyan Wanandi.

Dorodjatun did an excellent job in pacifying would-be
investors. Economically, he claimed that Megawati's government is
compact and its responsibility and accountability are for
everyone to see. He talked about getting various projects moving
again and many have restarted. He reminded the conference that
despite what the media says the U.S. is still Indonesia's biggest
trading partner by far. He alluded to some strategic planning of
the government's, but that democratization also meant arduous
passages of laws and acts before implementation.

He also supported the implementation of AFTA and said that in
fact AFTA had helped and not hinder various progress in
Indonesia, as indeed it should.

Sadly, it was clear that the Indonesian public and business
people are not as yet properly informed about AFTA. The only
thing they think about, it seems, is the flood of imported goods
from neighboring Southeast Asian countries into Indonesia which
would annihilate Indonesian manufacturers. A number of Indonesian
trade associations have asked for protection from the onslaught
of AFTA 2003 (yes, they still specified it as 2003 when in fact
it started last January 2002), and asked the government to
request for a delay in the introduction of reduced tariffs on a
lot of Indonesian products.

Is it not true that AFTA's objectives are to improve the
overall competitiveness of the region so that it can compete with
other regions around the world? Granted that there may be
increased competition within the region, but is this not the way
to enhance the competitiveness of the region as a whole?

We must not lose track of the "Horizon beyond", the theme of
the IABC-AIBC talks, borrowed from a book by the same title by
Julius Tahija. This writer had contributed to the birth of a new
generation of Indonesians who practice values in business and
private, values which are alien to the majority of Indonesians.
His son, George Tahija who now runs the rather large and highly
successful family company, PT Austindo Nusantara Jaya (ANJ)
summarized these values as:

1.Telling the truth

2.Keeping promises, and

3.Being fair.

Simple as they may sound, they require a lot of effort and
courage to carry out. It appears logical that such a formidable
task cannot be a short-term endeavor only. We have to see them as
a much longer proposition, even further than the horizon --
beyond the horizon.

Here is therefore the key to solving the sustained "bashing"
that Indonesia has been getting. To be fair perhaps, government
bashing should be accompanied by business bashing as well.
Corruption cannot happen one way only. An old Indonesian proverb
says that you cannot clap with one hand only.

By now, everyone is awashed with their own experiences for
example, of corruptions at various levels in Indonesia. It is a
fact. The question is are we going to do anything about it or are
we going to keep talking about it without proffering any
solutions. Government, business and the people have to work
together to really solve the problems facing all of them.