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Summit hears call for businesses to get involved in policy making

Poor coordination between the government and private sector is behind policies that are not “business friendly”, eventually hampering economic growth, according to some business leaders

Tassia Sipahutar (The Jakarta Post)
Sydney
Fri, July 18, 2014

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Summit hears call for businesses to get involved in policy making

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oor coordination between the government and private sector is behind policies that are not '€œbusiness friendly'€, eventually hampering economic growth, according to some business leaders.

Speaking during a Business 20 (B20) Summit discussion on Thursday, media mogul Rupert Murdoch said governments had often rolled out policies that created too much red tape for businesspeople.

'€œThey stunt economic growth, whereas governments must provide businesses with opportunities that can create jobs,'€ said Murdoch, the executive chairman of publishing firm News Corp. and CEO of media company 21st Century Fox.

He pointed to energy-, immigration- and tax-related policies as examples of regulations that were unfriendly to business communities.

Murdoch also took the time during the discussion to lambast the US government.

'€œIn America right now, rather than having a series of necessary debates about corporate tax reform, the Obama administration is attacking and seeking to penalize American companies that reincorporate and move operations to countries with more favorable tax policies,'€ he said.

Murdoch, whose net worth is estimated at around US$13.8 billion, according to Forbes, also slammed the US on its immigration policy, arguing that it was immigrants and their descendants that built American companies.

Reuters reported that US President Barack Obama had pushed new immigration laws to create a pathway to citizenship for some 11 million undocumented residents.

However, bickering over the bill is now taking place between Republicans and Democrats.

Meanwhile, Ben van Beurden, the CEO of oil and gas company Royal Dutch Shell plc, insisted businesses must strongly advocate for their increased involvement in public policy-making. '€œBut make sure the intentions that we have, the things that we advocate for, are indeed in the interests of the public,'€ he said, adding that business leaders must also be prepared for unpopular opinions.

To realize that, van Beurden said both government and business groups must have transparent talks over the long-term economic targets that they wanted to achieve.

The need for cooperation between government and the private sector was also highlighted by Australian Prime Minister Tony Abbott as he opened the B20 Summit.

Abbott said the private sector could lead growth after the global economic crisis hit in 2008.

'€œBusiness must be an advocate in the court of public opinion for policies that encourage trade, strengthen the economy and adhere to sound business principles,'€ he said.

The partnership could then lead to global economies posting a 2 percent increase in output during a five-year period and create millions of new jobs.

Contacted separately, Indonesian Employers Association (Apindo) chairman Sofjan Wanandi said the Indonesian government now always involved Apindo, along with the Indonesian Chamber of Commerce and Industry (Kadin), before taking any foreign-related policy.

'€œBut we are not that much involved when it comes to domestic policies. If the policies are good, everything is fine, but if they'€™re not, businesspeople will fuss,'€ he said, adding investors might pull their investments as a result of bad policy.

He pointed to the government'€™s newly revised negative investment list (DNI) as a positive example of the collaboration.

As previously reported, Indonesia'€™s Investment Coordinating Board (BKPM) laid out its revised DNI, enabling the participation of foreign investors in certain sectors.

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