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.