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Today's Headlines Competitiveness
Asman Abnur, Indonesian Administrative and Bureaucratic Reform Minister, said a total of 654 foreign airplane pilots currently work in Indonesia. This is a relatively high figure compared to the 7,150 Indonesian pilots as it implies that 8.4 percent of all pilots in Indonesia are foreign. The use of foreign pilots is allowed by the Indonesian government since 2008.
Indonesia's ranking improved in the World Economic Forum (WEF)'s Global Competitiveness Report 2017-2018. In the latest edition, released earlier today (27/09), Indonesia ranks 36th, up from 41st in last year's edition. In the 2017-2018 edition, a total of 140 countries are analyzed (using 12 pillars of competitiveness) and ranked by WEF, a Swiss non-profit foundation.
It has been many months since Indonesian President Joko Widodo signed Presidential Regulation No. 40/2016 on the Determination of the Natural Gas Price in the second half of 2016. However, most businesses in Indonesia still need to pay a high price for gas. Therefore, businesses are again urging the government to be committed to its gas price policy.
Indonesia rose six positions in the 2017 edition of the IMD World Competitiveness ranking. In this edition Southeast Asia's largest economy was ranked 42nd. This is positive because it shows the government's reform agenda is having an impact by improving the investment and business climate. However, Indonesia remains ranked behind its regional peers the Philippines (41st), Thailand (27th), Malaysia (24th), and Singapore (3rd).
Indonesian footwear manufacturers urge the government to remove leather from the quarantine requirement in order to improve the competitiveness of the Indonesian footwear industry. Indonesia's footwear industry imports about 70 percent of its leather consumption (while Indonesia exports most - if not all - of its domestically-made premium leather).
The Indonesian government targets to see domestic steel production rise by 5 percent year-on-year (y/y) in 2017. Strategies to encourage Indonesia's steel output include tighter supervision on steel imports and offering energy price incentives to domestic producers (in an effort to boost the competitiveness of Indonesian steel).
Rubber gloves manufacturers in Indonesia are pessimistic about their business in 2017. This pessimism is caused by the lack of clarity whether - or when - the Indonesian government will lower the gas price for the rubber glove sector. Indonesia's high gas price gives rise to high operational costs for Indonesia's rubber glove producers. Reportedly, a number of local rubber glove factories have ceased production since late-2015.
Elisa Sinaga, Chairman of the Indonesian Ceramic Industry Association (ASAKI), is concerned about the zero percent import duty policy (applied per 2018) for Chinese ceramics that are shipped into Indonesia. This policy could lead to massive ceramic imports from China and encourage the deindustrialization in Indonesia's ceramic sector.
Indonesian Industry Minister Airlangga Hartanto is pessimistic about the future of the Trans-Pacific Partnership (TPP) now Donald Trump has won the US presidential election earlier this week. During his campaign Trump repeatedly emphasized the need for more protectionist measures and the reviewing of free trade deals in order to make the US economy stronger. Previously, Indonesian President Joko Widodo said Indonesia is eager to join the TPP within the next couple of years.
Indonesia's improving ranking in the World Bank's Ease of Doing Business Index shows that the government's reform efforts have had a positive effect. However, there is no time for complacency as most industries in Indonesia continue to lack competitiveness compared to regional counterparts, while many entrepreneurs in Indonesia continue to complain about (the lack of) legal certainty as well as (the lack of) good coordination and cooperation between Indonesia's central and regional governments (in terms of policy implementation).
Latest Columns Competitiveness
The micro, small, and medium enterprises (MSMEs) of Indonesia are an interesting phenomenon. Why? Well, let’s take a look at three remarkable statistics:
In the latest World Competitiveness Yearbook (2022) Indonesia ranked 44th overall (out a total of 63), which is significantly weaker than last year’s ranking (37th). While Indonesia’s investment and business environment is known to be plagued by several structural bottlenecks, we did witness an (overall) improving trend in the country’s rankings in global competitiveness indices over the past decade or so.
Indonesian exports of textile and textile products have already reached the value of USD $12.4 billion in 2017, exceeding the Indonesian Textile Association (API)'s target of USD $11.8 billion. The final (full-year) 2017 figure is expected to be higher as the last couple of weeks of 2017 are not included in the USD $12.4 billion. Robust textile demand from Southeast Asia and the Middle East was a decisive factor why the target was achieved.
Cement consumption in Indonesia grew 5.7 percent year-on-year (y/y) to 41.1 million tons in the January-August 2017 period (compared to the same period one year earlier). This can be labelled a rebound compared to bleak growth of 1.8 percent (y/y) and 1.6 percent (y/y) in 2015 and 2016, respectively. This year Indonesian cement demand could in fact reach 64 million tons.
It is worrying that of total foreign investment commitments in Indonesia, only about 50 percent becomes actual investment. The other half decides - after initially being interested - not to pursue investment in Indonesia. Although not in all cases, it is believed that Indonesia's difficult investment climate scares away part of the (potential) investment community, specifically bureaucracy (red tape) and the lack of sufficient hard and soft infrastructure.
Indonesia climbed 15 places in the World Bank's Ease of Doing Business index 2017 from 106 to 91, hence being among the ten biggest climbers. Overall, the World Bank saw a record 137 economies around the globe adopting key reforms that make it easier to start and operate small and medium-sized businesses. The World Bank released its latest index, titled “Doing Business 2017: Equal Opportunity for All” on Wednesday (26/10).
The Centre for Strategic and International Studies (CSIS) believes that the economy of Indonesia will benefit if the government decides to participate in the Trans-Pacific Partnership (TPP) because this free trade deal would make the Indonesian economy more efficient and makes Indonesian exports more competitive. However, Philip Vermonte, Executive Director of CSIS, said a comprehensive study on the matter is yet to be carried out. Others remain concerned about a possible huge rise in imports into Indonesia if Southeast Asia's largest economy would join the TPP deal.
Investment in Indonesia's furniture and handicraft industries is expected to slow in 2016 due to subdued global demand and the lower competitiveness of these industries in Indonesia. Local furniture companies are moving away to Vietnam due to issues related to logistics costs, minimum wages and workers' productivity. For example, Taiwan-based Woodworth Wooden Industries Indonesia, the first Taiwanese furniture company that entered Indonesia (with a USD $40 million investment), decided to exit Indonesia, leaving 200 workers unemployed.
In response to the ailing global economy, Indonesian President Joko Widodo has unveiled a new economic policy package that aims to boost economic growth of Indonesia amid a highly uncertain global context. On Wednesday (09/09), Joko Widodo (often called Jokowi) provided some details about the first phase of this new stimulus package during a speech at the State Palace in Jakarta.
The Finance Ministry of Indonesia announced that it plans to inject USD 1.63 billion into state-owned financing company Sarana Multi Infrastruktur and to transform this company into an infrastructure bank in a move to boost infrastructure development across Southeast Asia’s largest economy. The central government needs private capital to fund its massive infrastructure program for the next five years as it can only account for 30 percent of required investment. For the remainder it relies on private capital and state-owned enterprises.
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