Monopolistic practices denounced
Monopolistic practices denounced
JAKARTA (JP): The speaker of the House of Representatives, a business analyst and a lawyer yesterday all denounced monopolistic business practices in the country and called for legal reforms to ensure fair competition.
"Unfair competition and the concentration of economic power in one group or monopoly will harm the public. Such practices are also against the ideals of social justice," House speaker Wahono said in a seminar on monopoly and cartel sponsored by the Indonesian Democratic Party here yesterday.
"Existing legal structures, however, do not sufficiently support the country's small businesses nor do they guarantee fair competition," said Wahono, a former Golkar chairman.
Despite Indonesia's robust economic growth, public and media criticism of several dominant business groups, especially those believed to be politically well-connected, has become increasingly audible in the last two years.
The government has promised to pass an anti-monopoly law soon to prevent business groups from dominating industries at every stage, from the upstream level to the downstream operations.
Wahono also urged the government to carry out legal reforms to rectify the situation and also to anticipate trade liberalization in the near future.
"We must change our legal structure because our economy must accommodate the world demand for trade liberalization, which is based on the principles of competition," he said.
Indonesia is a signatory of the Marrakesh Treaty, which marks the completion of the Uruguay Round of the General Agreement of Tariffs and Trade.
Meanwhile, lawyer B.M. Kuntjara Jakti said yesterday that Indonesia is equipped with only two laws which enforce fair competition.
"We have Article 382 of the Criminal Code, which addresses various scams and forgeries and the Industrial Law No. 5/1984," he said.
"Regrettably, these are not adequate," he said.
Kuntjara Jakti also suggested that the government introduce several acts or laws similar to the Anti Trust Law of the United States or the Monopolies and Restrictive Practices Act of Britain.
Business analyst Christianto Wibisono added that Indonesia should not shy away from adopting a "modern liberal economic system".
Such a system, as exemplified by the United States, does not allow unfair market distortions caused by cartels or monopolies, he said. (hdj)