SBY's 100-day program gets thums-up

SBY's 100-day program gets thums-up

The Jakarta Post/Jakarta

While details remain sketchy, the newly unveiled 100-day national
economic program has apparently met the expectations many people
have, by showing that the government literally means business
when it comes to improving the country's investment climate and
economy.

Economist Pande Radja Silalahi of the Centre for Strategic and
International Studies (CSIS) and Indonesian Employers Association
(APINDO) chairman Sofyan Wanandi expressed their optimism that
the program provided a sound basis for developing policies that
could cure the country's economic ills.

"The direction is there, be it on tax reform, fiscal and
macroeconomics consolidation, and others. There's still a long
way to go, but at least (the program) shows clear signs as to
where the new government and its policies are headed," Pande said
on Sunday.

The government announced last week its to-do list for its
first 100 days in office that highlights the need for further tax
reform -- among others -- in annulling certain regulations that
are deemed detrimental to the nation's business climate.

The revocation of luxury tax imposed on non-alcoholic
carbonated drinks and value-added tax (VAT) on heavy machinery or
equipment for the mining industry, for example, are high on the
list.

Additional plans to introduce tax amnesty for long-time tax
evaders are also being considered, under which the government
would throw out all criminal charges in return for a calculated
fine in a kind of bail-out scheme.

Pande said in principle, the measures in the program reflected
the business community's needs and requests, and thus indicated
the government's commitment to improving the business climate and
so boosting economic activities.

Still, the program was lacking in details, he added.

"As regards tax amnesty, for instance, how is the government
going to do this? It requires a massive, coordinated effort among
state institutions... Not to mention it will need a law on the
issue, which means it would be impossible for the government to
accomplish in its first 100 days," Pande said, adding there was
no guarantee such a legislation would be passed within such a
short time.

APINDO chairman Sofyan, who also heads the powerful business
lobby the National Economic Recovery Committee (KPEN), also
hailed the planned revocation of rulings that discouraged
business.

"Amending the decrees and bylaws alone would help solve 60 to
70 percent of the problems faced by businesses here, and would
eventually attract investment," Sofyan said, adding that some
parts of the economic program followed the recommendations made
in the trade and investment road map prepared by the Indonesian
Chamber of Commerce and Industry (Kadin) and the KPEN.

"In short, I don't believe that the government would not
implement our recommendations, as among SBY's aides are men and
women who were involved directly in drawing up the road map,"
said Sofyan, referring to former Kadin chairman Aburizal Bakrie,
Mari Elka Pangestu and Fahmi Idris, who now sit in President
Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono's Cabinet as Coordinating Minister for
the Economy, Minister of Trade and Minister of Manpower and
Transmigration, respectively.

Sofyan said the business community had recognized the need for
a control mechanism and were forming a team to monitor the
implementation of the 100-day program, comprising local business
players and representatives of foreign trade chambers, as well as
noted economists such as Hadi Soesastro and Faisal Basri.