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Striking the right regulatory balance

So where does Indonesia currently stand as regards regulatory reform?

Viktor Fanggidae (The Jakarta Post)

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Jakarta

Fri, August 31, 2018 Published on Aug. 31, 2018 Published on 2018-08-31T10:01:16+07:00

An aerial view of the Hotel Indonesia traffic circle. (JP/PJ Leo)

T

he nation was recently gripped by the highly anticipated announcement of the presidential candidates’ running mates for the upcoming election. Regardless of the election’s result, the herculean task that faces both camps is certainly regulatory reform, an item that always tops the priority agenda of any presidential candidate.

In June, The Economist published the article, “Why Indonesia is so bad at lawmaking”, which highlighted a number of newly issued, ambiguous laws that only added to Indonesia’s legal jungle.

The article noted that a lack of expertise, corruption and a political culture of consensus were the factors frequently blamed for the poor quality of laws and regulations. So where does Indonesia currently stand as regards regulatory reform?

President Joko “Jokowi” Widodo is undoubtedly focused on regulatory reform. In 2015, he instructed ministers and governors to reduce existing regulations by 50 percent to improve investment procedures. Despite this, the ever-growing number of regulations that agencies below the ministerial level enacted prompted the President to announce a deregulation competition for ministries in 2017.