Adaptation of regulations is the main challenge for Indonesia. OECD offer: Minister

JAKARTA (ANTARA) – Coordinating Minister for the Economy, Airlangga Hartarto, said the main challenge in Indonesia’s accession process is the synchronization of various regulations with the standards set by the Organization for Economic Co-operation and Development (OECD).

“The challenges, of course, are to compare regulations with best practices and bring all ministries to the same situation,” he noted at a news conference in Jakarta on Wednesday.

Hartarto pointed out that the challenge of synchronizing policies is faced not only by the central government, but also by regional governments, which will also later participate in the implementation of harmonized regulations.

Indonesia is currently focused on preparing a preliminary memorandum to meet the standards and requirements for full membership in the OECD. The memorandum will be a tool for Indonesia to communicate the reforms it will implement to the world.

The initial memorandum covers 26 sectors, including the financial, economic, anti-corruption, healthy competition, consumer policy, digital economy and technology policy sectors.

Hartarto explained that during the accession process, the OECD National Acceleration Team will engage all parties related to the 26 sectors to complete the memorandum.

“We are already a member of the FATF (Financial Action Task Force) and we also have transparency, for example (as seen through) the KNKG (National Governance Policy Committee),” he noted.

On the same occasion, OECD Secretary General Mathias Cormann stated that the process of joining the OECD could help to create momentum for future reforms.

Joining the OECD will help continue the positive transformation of the country’s economy and help increase people’s incomes and living standards, which will help Indonesia achieve its goal of becoming a developed country by 2045.

Cormann explained that the process included liberalizing development, facilitating trade and investment, encouraging the development of new infrastructure, providing high-quality and accessible education to further improve the business environment in Indonesia, and driving digital transformation.

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