The new deregulation package

The government has once again launched deregulation measures in anticipation of the new world trade order in the wake of the GATT and Uruguay Round arrangements. Since May last year the government has issued four such packages.

Deregulation has apparently become a part of the government's policies that is difficult to avoid, especially in the light of the global drift towards fiercer competition in the non-oil sector, where our exports have shown a declining trend.

But deregulation should not merely be a tool for anticipating the increasing risks which foreign investors must face. It should also help to eradicate monopolistic and oligopolistic tendencies that have a negative impact on the Indonesian economy.

-- Suara Pembaruan, Jakarta