Textile companies urge the government to provide more legal certainty in relation to the continuously rising flow of imported textile products. The rising flow is the result of the implementation of the ASEAN Economic Community (AEC) at the start of 2016. The AEC has created a single market and production base within ASEAN member countries, implying that goods - including textiles and textile products - can flow freely within the region. However, Indonesian textile players say that many textiles that are imported from other ASEAN countries (and thus are free from import tax) actually originate from non-ASEAN countries.

Lanjut baca ›

Through the implementation of Presidential Regulation No.12/2016, Indonesia confirmed its participation in the ASEAN Open Sky policy (also known as the ASEAN Single Aviation Market). This policy comprises the multilateral agreement of all ten ASEAN member countries to unite their skies into one single aviation market (hence liberalizing regulations to a large degree). By enhancing connectivity (implying an easier flow of people and cargo) the ASEAN member nations target to boost the region’s economic growth. ASEAN is home to more than 600 million people.

Lanjut baca ›

With the start of the ASEAN Economic Community (AEC) in 2016, Indonesia has to face tougher competition for its fruits exports. The AEC entails a high degree of free trade among its member nations and therefore competition for tropical fruit exports increases, not only in export markets in other parts of the ASEAN region but also on Indonesia's domestic market. Kafi Kurnia, Head of the Indonesian Export-Import of Fresh Fruit and Vegetable Association (Assibisindo), stated that, despite the great potential, Indonesia's fruit export volume remains small. The government is to blame as it fails to turn fruit into a key export commodity.

Lanjut baca ›

With the implementation of the ASEAN Economic Community (AEC) per 1 January 2016 - i.e. the community that is designed to allow the free flow of goods, services, investment, and skilled labor as well as the freer flow of capital among its ten member countries - there has been concern among part of the Indonesian population whether there could occur a massive inflow of foreign workers into Indonesia hence giving rise to more competition on the domestic labor market. This column zooms in on the free flow of labor under the AEC.

Lanjut baca ›

Per 1 January 2016 the ASEAN Economic Community (AEC) came into effect. This community implies stronger cooperation and integration among the ten member countries in Southeast Asia. According to its blue print the AEC involves the launch of a single market and production base among its member nations, hence allowing the free flow of goods, services, investment, and skilled labor as well as the freer flow of capital. Indonesia is one of the member countries.

Lanjut baca ›

In line with rising tourism in Indonesia, the value of hotel construction in Southeast Asia's largest economy is expected to grow 16 percent to IDR 21 trillion (approx. USD $1.6 billion) in 2016. Most of the new projects - roughly 21 percent - are located in the Greater Jakarta area. Besides tapping the tourism potential, hotel developers also want to tap the business potential, meaning that due to expected accelerated economic growth in 2016, there will arrive more foreign businessmen in Indonesia to attend meetings and other activities, particularly as the ASEAN Economic Community comes online.

Lanjut baca ›

Beberapa minggu lalu, telah dilaporkan bahwa Presiden Indonesia Joko Widodo meminta Menteri Tenaga Kerja & Transmigrasi Hanif Dhakiri untuk merevisi draft peraturan (dibuat di tahun 2013) yang mengharuskan para ekspatriat lulus tes penguasaan Bahasa Indonesia sebagai persyaratan mendapatkan izin kerja. Menurut Widodo, peraturan ini akan mengurangi daya tarik iklim investasi Indonesia.

Lanjut baca ›

Indonesian President Joko Widodo wants to drop the regulation that states a foreign worker needs to learn Indonesian. Today (21/08), Cabinet Secretary Pramono Anung said President Widodo (often called Jokowi) requested Hanif Dhakiri, Indonesian Minister of Manpower and Transmigration, to revise this regulation (that was issued in 2013). According to Jokowi the language proficiency requirement would make Indonesia’s investment climate less competitive and could therefore hamper much-needed investment.

Lanjut baca ›

Komisi XI DPR yang membidangi sektor perbankan nasional akan segera mengusulkan rancangan baru undang-undang yang membatasi kepemilikan asing di bank-bank Indonesia menjadi 40 persen (dari 99 persen saat ini). Bank yang sekarang dimiliki oleh pihak asing akan diberi waktu 10 tahun mendivestasikan sahamnya setelah rancangan undang-undang diloloskan menjadi undang-undang (konon rancangan sebelumnya memberikan jangka waktu pengalihan selama lima tahun untuk divestasi wajib tersebut).

Lanjut baca ›

Following the enactment of the ASEAN Economic Community (AEC) in 2015, the Financial Services Authority (OJK) will allow foreign insurance corporations to open a branch office in Indonesia. The AEC will transform the ASEAN region into a region with free movement of goods, services, investment, skilled labour, as well as a freer flow of capital. Currently, foreign insurance corporations are prohibited from opening a branch in Indonesia unless it is in the form of a joint venture company with a 80 percent foreign ownership limit.

Lanjut baca ›

Corn is among the four strategic commodities that receive special attention in the blueprint of the ASEAN Economic Community (AEC). The AEC’s food blueprint aims to enhance food security & sovereignty of corn, rice, soybeans and cassava in the ASEAN region. Indonesia is currently the region’s largest corn producer. However, Indonesian corn consumption continues to outpace domestic corn production, resulting in a deficit. This column provides an overview of Indonesia’s corn sector in the context of the AEC.

Lanjut baca ›

In line with the implementation of the ASEAN Economic Community (AEC) by the end of the year, the ASEAN Open Skies policy (also known as the ASEAN Single Aviation Market) should become fully effective later this year. The ASEAN Open Skies policy, a key component of the AEC, involves the multilateral agreement of all ten ASEAN countries to unite their skies into a single aviation market (hence liberalizing rules and regulations to a large degree) in a bid to boost the region’s economic growth.

Lanjut baca ›

In late 2014 Indonesian rubber producers and exporters were not amused when the government of China decided to approve a new standard for compound rubber imports. The permitted crude rubber content in imported compound rubber was cut from 95-99.5 percent to 88 percent, meaning that compound rubber imports into China became subject to a 20 percent import duty (the same tariff as natural rubber import duties). China’s new policy is a blow to its rubber suppliers, which include Indonesia, Thailand, Malaysia, and Vietnam.

Lanjut baca ›

One of the key strategies to improve the economic fundamentals of Indonesia is to restructure and strengthen the country’s exports. This restructuring involves the transformation of Indonesian exports from being dominated by (raw) commodities to manufactured exports by developing downstream industries in Southeast Asia’s largest economy, including import substitution industrialization in order to curb the country’s demand for imported products amid Indonesians’ rising purchasing power.

Lanjut baca ›

Bank Indonesia (the central bank of Indonesia) and the Financial Services Authority (OJK) signed an agreement (the ASEAN Banking Integration Framework, abbreviated ABIF) with Malaysia’s central bank to support banking integration in the ASEAN region. The website of Bank Indonesia states that ABIF “provides an operating framework for ASEAN member states to implement principles and the integration process in the banking sector to support the ASEAN Economic Community (AEC) [which is to be implemented later this year]”.

Lanjut baca ›

Amid Indonesia’s slowing economic growth as well as looming higher prices of subsidized fuels (which will cause accelerated inflation and declining purchasing power), domestic car sales in Indonesia have fallen 6.3 percent to 104,916 units in October 2014 from the same month last year according to preliminary data from the Indonesian Automotive Industry Association (Gaikindo). Cumulatively, car sales reached 1.04 million units in the first ten months of 2014, a slight 1.6 percentage point increase from the same period last year.

Lanjut baca ›