President Joko “Jokowi” Widodo instructed ministers on Monday to conclude drafting the omnibus bill on job creation next week. “[I asked the ministers that] the omnibus law [draft] be finished this week [or] next week, at the latest,” he said. 

Manpower Minister Ida Fauziyah said the ministry and the Office of the Coordinating Economic Minister would indeed conclude discussions next week so the draft could be brought to the House of Representatives for deliberation.

“Basically, we are only focusing on five issues, including minimum wage, severance pay and working hours, among other things,” Ida told reporters after attending the Cabinet’s first meeting this year at the Presidential Palace in Jakarta on Monday.

Coordinating Economic Minister Airlangga Hartarto said on Dec. 20 that the bill would also include the government’s plan to ease the recruitment of foreign workers, among others.

“We discussed the hiring [process] and foreign workers so that expatriates could enter [and work in the country] without [having to wait for] long,” Airlangga told reporters during a press briefing in Jakarta, adding that the prevailing Immigration Law had made it hard for foreign workers to earn a temporary stay permit (KITAS).

For the planned omnibus law on job creation, the government has identified 1,194 articles in 82 laws that would be amended to accommodate one of President Joko “Jokowi” Widodo’s top priorities: attracting investment to create more jobs.