New rulings on tourism and telecoms

JAKARTA (JP): The government will issue eight new and revised regulations on tourism, post and telecommunications later this week.

Ministry of Tourism, Post and Telecommunications' Secretary- General Jonathan L. Parapak told a ministry workshop yesterday that minister Joop Ave is expected to sign the planned ministerial decrees and regulations when the workshop ends tomorrow.

The planned ruling will regulate the operations of international hotel chains, star-rated hotels, tour guides, telecommunications for specific purposes, public telephones, radio frequency allocation, certification on telecommunications equipment and the fundamental technical plans on telecommunications.

"We expect to report to President Soeharto the results of this workshop as well as the regulations on Friday. I can't give more details on the planned regulations," Parapak said.

Director General of Tourism Andi Mappi Sammeng said that the planned regulation on international hotel chain operations will require foreign hotel chains to set up Indonesian-incorporated companies before establishing or managing hotels in the country.

The planned regulation, prepared two years ago, aims to reduce the flow of foreign currency out of Indonesia. Currently, large amounts of money go to pay royalties and other payments to foreign hotel chains.

Andi said that the planned regulation on star-rated hotels will be related with morality affairs, while the planned tour- guide regulation will require travel agents to hire professionals.

Director General of Post and Telecommunications Djakaria Purawidjaja said the planned revised and new regulations on telecommunications will include a law on new structures of interconnection tariffing.

He said telecommunications operators, including state-owned domestic provider PT Telkom and private cellular operators, deserve proportional shares from calls made by customers.

"Currently we adopt the principle of 'senders keep all', meaning that revenue-sharing among related operators are not fair.

"New revenue sharing of 35:30:35 among telecommunications operators is being proposed during this workshop," he said.

According to Djakaria, a planned regulation on specific telecommunications operations will license such an operation -- like private radio communications systems -- in particular areas having inadequate telecommunications networks.

He said another planned regulation on postal and telecommunications equipment will require equipment intended for usage in Indonesia to be approved by the government for consumer protection.

The workshop, opened yesterday, is scheduled to close tomorrow, when Joop will report the results of the workshop to President Soeharto, who will present the Adikarya awards on tourism, post and telecommunications. (icn)