RI seeks WTO rules governing services sector

RI seeks WTO rules governing services sector

Zakki P. Hakim, The Jakarta Post/Jakarta

Indonesia along with other developing countries will continue
to push for World Trade Organization rules to govern the
liberalization of the services sector, particularly as regards
the establishment of safeguard mechanisms to control the influx
of foreign players in a way that could threaten the local
services industry, a senior official at the Ministry of Trade
said.

The ministry's director for multilateral cooperation, Djunari
Inggih Waskito, said that while talks in the WTO on opening up
the services market were very advanced, there had been no
significant developments in establishing rules to govern the
liberalization process.

"We have been pushing the issue of establishing Emergency
Safeguard Measures (ESM) for the last seven years, only to face
constant prevarication from the developed world," Djunari told
reporters on Thursday.

He said that the safeguard measures were necessary to control
imports if a surge in services imports occurred that could
threaten or damage the local industry.

The use of safeguard measures is common in the trade of goods,
where a country can erect a temporary high tariff wall whenever
there is a surge in imports that threaten local industry. This
trade defense tool, however, does not exist in the trade of
services.

Industrialized countries insist that the use of strict
domestic regulation should be sufficient rather than having
safeguard measures, Djunari said.

Among the developing world, ASEAN member countries were the
front runners in pushing for the use of safeguard measures, he
said.

The Association of South East Asian Nations (ASEAN) member
countries in the WTO are Brunei, Malaysia, Indonesia, Thailand,
the Philippines and Singapore.

Djunari also said that the WTO should push ahead in making
rules to govern subsidies and domestic regulations.

"Without multilateral discipline, each member country will
establish domestic regulations based on their own standards,
which would hampered the liberalization process instead of
facilitating it," he said.

A number of WTO member countries have requested Indonesia to
open its services sector, including communications, construction,
distribution, education, environmental resources, health-related
services, financial services, tourism, transport, recreation, and
culture and sports.

Djunari said that the government was currently preparing a
revised proposal in relation to the liberalization of the
services sector.