New deregulation aims to strenghten industry
New deregulation aims to strenghten industry
JAKARTA (JP): Minister of Trade and Industry Tunky Ariwibowo
yesterday asserted that the deregulation measures which
the government will soon introduce were not meant to compensate for
the recent increase in production costs.
Tunky said here that the deregulation is aimed to create a
strong and efficient domestic industry.
"There is nothing the government wants more than to create an
atmosphere which is conducive to business; especially because we
will soon be entering an era of free trade," Tunky said as quoted
by Antara.
He denied rumors that the deregulation package to be issued by
the government was motivated by pity on businesses which had to
increase wages last month, thereby increasing production costs.
The government plans to issue a deregulation package soon, as
a follow-up to package issued last January.
The January deregulation package, which was aimed at improving
the country's export performance and encouraging the
establishment of more export-oriented enterprises, was felt by
many analysts to fail to address the key problems of Indonesia's
export-oriented sector. There were also allegations that it
benefited only selected business sectors.
The upcoming deregulation package will focus on labor-
intensive industries and afford them various fiscal, monetary and
administrative help, Tunky said.
In the fiscal sector, for example, the government is to
provide tax incentives for value-added tax and in the monetary
sector lower interest rates are in the offing. In the
administrative domain, the government will simplify export and
import procedures.
Tunky explained that the main point of the upcoming
deregulatory measures was to increase the efficiency of labor-
intensive, export-oriented industries, such as the textile, shoe
and electronics industries.
But he added that the deregulation measures will not be
confined to those industries.
He said the government would consistently support the
development of industries which have the potential to become
major foreign exchange earners.
The government will not remain silent when our businesses
face problems," Tunky said, on a different tack, adding that
allegations of dumping often faced by Indonesian businesses were
a serious problem that could affect exports.
The government intends to see the problem contained within
the issue of dumping. We will use the guidelines established by
the World Trade Organization and see that everyone abides by all
its rules," he said. (pwn)