A

ug. 22, p1

As a sign that Indonesia is embracing expatriates to help lure foreign investment, the government has lifted several restrictions on foreigners working in the country.

Aside from scrapping requirements for foreigners working in Indonesia to master Indonesian, the government will also ease the process of obtaining a Temporary Stay Permit (KITAS).

Newly appointed Cabinet Secretary Pramono Anung said on Friday that such policies were part of the government'€™s commitment to '€œderegulate'€ all bureaucratic processes that have hampered the flow of foreign investment.

'€œThe language requirement and the process to obtain a KITAS only make the process of attracting foreign investment harder and longer,'€ he said.

Your comments:

Well, that'€™s good news for once! We appreciate it.

Marken

After reading the very interesting comments made about the change, clearly it is a move in the right direction, despite the system still being messy for gaining basic immigration status.

What is a more serious problem is the incompetence of ministries in getting work visas '€” e.g. the education ministry'€™s rule that a foreign English language teacher must have a bachelor or a higher degree in English literature. Do they not understand that this is a qualification, which usually has nothing to do with teaching foreign students English, and is more likely to be about studies of prose (e.g. Shakespeare), which is totally useless for teaching English?

Why they did not consult with quality English language training providers like The British Institute, i.e. the industry most affected by this, beggars belief, and smacks of a holier than thou approach.

Robert J. Cochrane

What'€™s clear is there is no real plan or strategy. All knee jerk. Considering foreign workers and investors are essential for the future growth of the Indonesian economy, you would think there would be.

I suggest scrapping the current system for something simple and effective like they have in Singapore.

Farmer

The biggest issue is not on KITAS or Indonesian language. The application for an Expatriate Placement Plan (RPTKA) and work permits (IMTA) will still take at least three months to be approved or issued. The online system does not make it faster either.

Also the new law requires a non-resident commissioner or director to have a tax registration number (NPWP), meaning you have to pay tax even if you do not reside in Indonesia. This will surely discourage new investors.

On top of that, the new regulation comes with a 1:10 ratio of foreign workers to local workers which is ridiculous. Jokowi needs to understand that this rule can only be applied to the manufacturing sector, not the service industry or representative offices.

Froggy

For a permanent work permit, I understand if Indonesian must be mastered. But for temporary jobs that last only for one to two years, there will be no need to learn the language. I'€™ve worked in Switzerland and Sweden and neither required me to speak their languages since my job lasted no more than one-and-a-half years for each. In Sweden, some job advertisements for permanent roles require the applicants to speak Swedish fluently; that'€™s of course understandable since they'€™re permanent.

Desinbali

What the President did not understand was the fact that there are foreign workers who only wish to stay and work for a short time or so in the country, especially if the jobs are project-based, having their own timeline. And if they'€™re required to speak Indonesian, then they will obviously turn their attention to other countries. Imagine if Switzerland applied the same rule for all foreign workers who wished to work there. They would have to be able to speak German, Italian and French since those are the official languages in the tiny country.

Simba

We all must come to terms with the unassailable fact that English is the way the world communicates '€” no argument. I'€™ve worked in many US/UK-based companies in foreign countries over the years and only learned the language of one of them and that was for private reasons (marriage).

In my experience there was never any difficulty between the employed locals and '€œforeign'€ colleagues as the locals were employed as the language buffer, if you will, and were able and willing to run the inland part of the company with skills and understanding of the local habits '€” that'€™s why they were employed. Usually the foreigners were in managerial positions.   

Markit

There are industries where you really benefit from being good at English, regardless if you are Indonesian or a foreigner, but that means that you are in a business where the extra hit for English is paid for by the market.

Markus

I do believe his comment is based on the new work permit regulation from July 16 this year. The new regulation from the Manpower Ministry stipulates that expatriates working in Indonesia need a work permit from relevant authorities. Since you need a stay permit (KITAP) or KITAS to get an IMTA, you would then have to become a resident. The regulation is aimed at phasing out this contradiction.

 In general terms this would mean that you can work in Indonesia without being a resident. A resident permit will be required if you intend to stay longer than the visa you currently hold. How this is coordinated with the tax regulation though, is still an open question...

OBS