RI needs good governance to cope with globalization

RI needs good governance to cope with globalization

JAKARTA (JP): Indonesia needs good governance and effective
bureaucracy to survive the globalization era which demands
compliance with international rules of the game, says former
cabinet minister Frans Seda.

Speaking in a panel discussion on globalization and
nationalism here yesterday, Seda said Indonesia could otherwise
face major obstacles such as widespread collusion.

Without good bureaucracy, for instance, Indonesia could be
kicked out of the game, Seda told an audience of about 60 people
at the gathering held by the Atma Jaya Catholic University's Law
School.

Seda is an economist and in his long career he has held
diverse posts including minister of agriculture, finance, and
also minister of post and telecommunications. The other speakers
yesterday were economist Djisman Simanjuntak, legal expert Ko
Swan Sik and columnist Mohamad Sobary.

Seda said the globalization rush was "aggressive" and would
sweep across all nations regardless of whether they were willing
or not to take part.

"We must adapt with globalization's rules of the game,
otherwise we'll be left behind... become a mere object of
globalization," he said.

"The country must empower itself from within by increasing
efficiency and competitiveness in order to survive."

Contrary to what some people believe, globalization will not
create a "borderless world" because individual nation-states will
still be able to retain sovereignty and determine the course of
its development.

"Globalization will not mean a dissolution of states," he
said.

He cited four phenomenons of globalization that have been
increasingly affecting all layers of society and a wide range of
sectors from the economy to politics to security. They include
interaction, interconnection, integration and rapid progress in
the technology of information.

The current Southeast Asian monetary crisis was proof of the
intensifying "interconnection" between economics and politics.

The crisis in Indonesia showed that an outside market force
was at work to correct the country's policies, he said.

Seda reiterated the need for Indonesia to become a subject,
rather than an object, of globalization. Indonesia will be able
to achieve this by strengthening national resilience, reducing
the social gap and establishing political stability which should
in turn create national stability.

In addition, Indonesia needs to accelerate regional
development and synergize all of the existing human resources for
the endeavor, Seda said. (aan/swe)