T

he government is gearing up to run on all cylinders to ensure the implementation of the recently issued economic policy package by appointing the Coordinating Economic Ministry as the economic policy deregulation center, reflecting its commitment to tackling the country'€™s weak economy.

According to State Secretary Pratikno, the government has set up a special desk at the ministry, where all actions are set to take place.

'€œThe center, headed by Coordinating Economic Minister Darmin Nasution, will host all discussions and revisions related to the first policy package. We will also establish a joint office here to facilitate daily debriefing of high-ranking officials,'€ he said after heading a coordination meeting on Friday.

The meeting was attended by a number of ministers, such as Public Works and Public Housing Minister Basuki Hadimuljono, Tourism Minister Arief Yahya, Manpower Minister Hanif Dhakiri, Environment and Forestry Minister Siti Nurbaya and Presidential Chief of Staff Teten Masduki.

Agrarian and Spatial Planning Minister Ferry Mursyidan Baldan, deputy Finance Minister Mardiasmo and Finance Ministry'€™s fiscal policy agency head Suahasil Nazara were also present at the meeting. Meanwhile, Coordinating Economic Minister Darmin Nasution and Finance Minister Bambang Brodjonegoro were absent as Minister Darmin accompanied President Joko '€œJokowi'€ Widodo in his state visit to the Middle East, while Minister Bambang attended an APEC Finance Ministers Meeting in the Philippines.

Praktino said that the establishment of the center would hopefully speed up the deregulation process, now that the first policy package has been rolled out.

Daily press conferences are slated to take place beginning next week to keep the public informed about the deregulation process.

The appointment of the Office of the Coordinating Economic Minister as the economic policy center can be seen as a way to engage it in the day-to-day implementation of the policy package, especially since it is headed by Darmin, a prominent figure in economics.

Prior to his appointment as minister, he served as Bank Indonesia'€™s governor and senior deputy governor from 2009 to 2013 and as the Finance Ministry'€™s directorate general of taxation from 2006 to 2009.

As reported earlier, the first policy package contains amendments of 89 regulations across various sectors.

In tourism, the government is seeking to increase accessibility by easing visa requirements and enabling cruise ships to venture into Indonesian waters.

In trade and industry, it aims to simplifying numerous, overlapping procedures to clear up real sector bottlenecks.

The Public Works and Public Housing Ministry, on the other hand, expects to conclude its part of the revision by the end of next week, according to Minister Basuki.

The ministry has been assigned to revise a government regulation on water resources to ensure sufficient water supply to various industries. '€œIt is almost complete. We just need to authorize it,'€ he said.

Separately, Coordinating Economic Minister Darmin brushed off concerns that the package lacked punch due to its quite general content.

'€œThere are indeed a lot of comments saying that implementation is essential, which is a standard observation every time a policy is issued, but we are really taking that into account,'€ he said at Halim Perdanakusuma Airport before leaving for the Middle East.

Trade Minister Thomas Lembong '€” who is accompanying Darmin on the trip '€” backed his fellow minister, saying that the government was serious about implementing the deregulation measures and increasing ease of doing business.

'€œWe are very serious, although [we are doing this] one at a time,'€ he said, adding that his office aimed to implement the deregulation measures by the end of October.