Businessmen Hope No Political Turmoil
With an improvement in the macroeconomic indicators, Indonesia’s economic situation is expected to be better this year.
JAKARTA, KOMPAS — With an improvement in the macroeconomic indicators, Indonesia’s economic situation is expected to be better this year. However, businessmen hope that political activities during the year will not cause turmoil and will not affect the economy.
The government’s policies this year, known as the year of politics, are expected to be more comprehensive, not fragmented, and well-coordinated between ministries and all the stakeholders. On the other hand, Indonesia should be able to take advantage of the improved economic performance with the support of the recovery in the global economy.
This year, the government has set an economic growth target of 5.4 percent.
The optimism about this year’s economy was shown by the CEOs of a number of major companies during an interview with Kompas on Tuesday. They include the president director of PT Adaro Energy Tbk, Garibaldi Thohir, the president director of PT Jasa Marga Tbk, Desi Arryani, the president director of PT Garuda Indonesia Tbk, Pahala Nugraha Mansury, the president director of PT Bank OCBC NISP Tbk, Parwati Surjaudaja, the president director of PT Sarana Multi Infrastructure (Persero), Emma Sri Martini, the president director of PT XL Axiata Tbk Dian Siswarini, and Tokopedia’s CEO William Tanuwijaya.
Garibaldi Thohir
"I hope in 2018 Indonesia\'s economic performance will be better and I am optimistic about it," said Garibaldi.
To build a big country like Indonesia requires the involvement of all parts of the society. Garibaldi, the president director of Adaro Energy, said the coordination between the government and all the stakeholders must be strengthened so that the policy can be fully implemented.
He pointed out that policy in the mining sector should, for example, be coordinated between the Energy and Mineral Resources Ministry, PT Perusahaan Listrik Negara (Persero), the Finance Ministry and other related ministries.
Emma Sri Martini
Emma Sri Martini, president director of PT Sarana Multi Infrastructure, said the recent upgrade of Indonesia\'s long-term rating from BBB- to BBB by Fitch rating agency with a stable prospect should be used as momentum to further strengthen the economic performance of Indonesia this year.
"We believe the country’s strengthening economic resilience can further maintain the stability in the financial market and enable the government to make more credible macroeconomic assumptions in the state budget," Emma said.
The recovery of the global economy, which is estimated by the International Monetary Fund (IMF) to grow 3.7 percent this year, is expected to further strengthen the performance of the Indonesian economy.
"The encouraging development is expected to be able to support various infrastructure projects in Indonesia that can have multiple impacts on the economy," Emma said.
Parwati Surya Surjaudaja
Parwati Surjaudaja, president director of PT Bank OCBC NISP, hopes the political activities during the year do not affect the performance of the government’s ongoing programs. The 2018 economy can, therefore, grow in line with projections through the implementation of sustainable economic programs.
According to Parwati, consumption needs to be stimulated in order to propel growth in the retail sector.
Homework
William Tanuwijaya, Tokopedia’s CEO said Indonesia had a lot of homework to do to further promote the digital economy in the country. The road is still very long for Indonesia to finish such work. "A more precise analogy is just like climbing a mountain, but the mountain is very high," he said.
William Tanuwijaya
In the last eight years, said William, Tokopedia had helped more than 2.6 million Indonesians to develop business in the network. Among them, about 70 percent are new businesspeople.
In fact, about 56 percent of Indonesia\'s gross domestic product (GDP) is contributed by the country’s 58 million micro, small and medium enterprises. Indonesia\'s GDP at the end of 2016 reached a total of Rp 12,400 trillion.
"We expect the economy to consistently grow this year so that more SMEs can use technology to expand their business," said William.
The government still needs to improve the business climate, he said, adding that regulation must be pro-investment.
Desi Arryani
Desi Arryani, president director of Jasa Marga said many economic aspects such as exchange rate stability, economic growth and acceleration of infrastructure development, should be continued. Social stability, politics and security should also be well maintained this year, she added.
Meanwhile, the president director of XL Axiata Tbk, Dian Siswarini, said there was a significant change in customer behavior in the telecommunications sector. Customers, who previously used voice and short text messaging had shifted to internet data. This phenomenon affects the income of mobile telecommunications operators.
"We are fortunate to have prepared ourselves for the shift in consumer behavior since 2015," he said.
Dian said the telecommunications industry had become increasingly relevant to other industries. However, she acknowledged, the actual situation of the telecommunications industry was quite difficult, because most operators needed to make a large investment amid the increasingly tight competition, in addition to inefficiency. However, the government has not taken any real action to address the problem.
Dian Siswarini
This year, internet data consumption is expected to increase due to increased access to various digital products. "The tight competition will continue. We expect the government to take concrete action," said Dian.
Keep calm
Pahala Nugraha Mansury, president director of Garuda, said the demand for connectivity, including aviation, depended much on the economic situation. He hoped the world\'s geopolitical situation would remain calm so that there will be no political turmoil that could affect world oil prices. An increase in oil prices would pose a blow to the aviation industry.
According to Bloomberg reports, the price of Brent crude oil reached US$66.72 per barrel on Tuesday, while the WTI crude oil price was $60.40 per barrel. The assumption of oil price in the 2018 state budget is $48 per barrel.
"What Indonesian airlines need is the government’s support. The chain of the aviation industry is so diverse that it needs the government’s support to maintain the sustainability of airline operators. Therefore, the regulations made by the government should maintain the balance in the industry," said Pahala.
Pahala N Mansury
Parwati highlighted the need of the involvement of all stakeholders in managing the economy. She suggested that the government focus on consolidation and communication.
Thus, the government’s reform should be focused on activities that can produce more solid results for economic growth in the real sector, public consumption and the business world as a whole.
"The government needs to make more effort to ensure foreign investment in Indonesia will be able to increase significantly," said Parwati.
She also suggested that the government make aggressive solutions in terms of regulation in labor policy and the financial market, so that Indonesia can compete with other countries.
(ARN/MAR/HEN/MED/NAD/IDR)
