On Thursday, 8 September 2016, Budidjaja & Associates delegated our Managing Associate, Ms. Diana Kusumasari, and our Associate, Ms. Primayvira R. Limbong, to attend the Policy Dialogue Series on “Efforts to Improve Position of Indonesia on Ease of Doing Business” at the Ministry of Trade.
This event was held by the Ministry of Trade in cooperation with Australia-Indonesia Partnership for Economic Governance (AIPEG). The purpose of this event was to assess the progress of Ease of Doing Business (“EODB”) as one of the economic policy packages issued by President Jokowi in order to boost Indonesia’s position in EODB rankings. Among the participants were entrepreneurs, government agencies and other stakeholders.
Expert panelists invited from various sectors included the following:
- Dody Tony (Director General of Foreign Trade at the Ministry of Trade);
- Vera Kobalia (Member of AIPEG/Former Minister of Economy and Sustainable Development of Georgia);
- Chris Kanter (Entrepreneur/Former member of the National Economic Committee or KEN);
- Edy Junaedi (Head of the One-Stop Integrated Services Agency [Badan Pelayanan Terpadu Satu Pintu or “BPTSP”] of DKI Jakarta Province).
As mandated by President Jokowi, the government is aiming to get Indonesia to the 40th position of the EODB world rank. Currently, Indonesia is at the 109th position out of 189 countries[1], which is below the other ASEAN countries, such as Singapore (1st), Malaysia (18th), Thailand (49th), Brunei Darussalam (84th), Vietnam (90th) and Philippines (103rd). Notwithstanding, Indonesia’s position is above Cambodia (127th), Laos (134th) and Myanmar (167th).
In an attempt to upgrade Indonesia’s position, the Ministry of Trade and Jakarta’s BPTSP have taken several actions, for example:
- Regulation issuance:
a) Regulation of Minister of Trade No. 48/M-DAG/PER/7/2015 on General Requirements on Import Sector to reduce dwell time at customs;
b) Regulation of Ministry of Trade No. 123/M-DAG/PER/12/2015 on Provision on Licensing Service in the Field of Export and Import by way of Inatrade in the Form of Indonesian Single Window (Ketentuan Pelayanan Perizinan di Bidang Ekspor dan Impor melalui Inatrade dalam Kerangka Indonesia Single Window), which essentially regulates the issuance of 7 (seven) types of licenses with electronic signature;
c) Regulation of DKI Jakarta Governor No.28 concerning Simplification on Terms for Licensing and Non-Licensing in 2016 to amend the management of business licenses and construction of buildings in Jakarta.
- Courier delivery service called AJIB (Antar Jemput Izin Bermotor): The BPTSP is now providing an innovative service called AJIB. This new service facilitates document handing at the BPTSP with help from motorcycle couriers. Residents only need to inform BPTSP about their location in order for the agency to dispatch an officer and pick up the documents. The workflow of this service is also very simple and efficient; and to start using this service, residents only need to dial 164 or send an order form via email or Whatsapp application. To complete the process, residents must follow the instructions provided.
AJIB is currently available for six types of licenses: Expatriate employment plans (RPTKA) and expatriate employment permits (IMTA), construction service business licenses (SIUJK), research permits, import identification numbers and building technical worker permits (IPTB). BPTSP aims to add another 10 documents to the AJIB service by the end of the year, including animal healthcare certificates (SKKH) and alcoholic beverage trade permits (SIUP-MB).[2]
The significance of the progress, as stated earlier, is designed to produce a level of optimism that supports Indonesia’s efforts in achieving the proposed target for EODB implementation. This was also agreed by AIPEG Panelist, Vera Kobalia, who shared her country’s experience. She shared the history of EODB’s progress in Georgia which increased rapidly within a period of 5 (five) years. Georgia, an ex-Soviet Union country, improved its EODB ranking from 120th to 9th over the span of 10 years from 2004 to 2014.
According to the World Bank, previously the most corrupt country in Eastern Europe, Georgia is now the top global reformer in terms of EODB.
As a conclusion to this dialogue, it is not impossible to upgrade Indonesia’s EODB ranking with rigorous development and cooperation from all related sectors and stakeholders.
[1] http://www.doingbusiness.org/rankings
[2] http://www.jakarta.go.id/v2/news/2016/01/layanan-ajib-dilayani-150-petugas#.V9dm0Pl97IV