 |
| A lack of infrastructure, such as elevated roadways, is still holding back Indonesia, according to a World Economic Forum report on global competitiveness. (JG Photo/Afriadi Hikmal) |
Related
articles
- Switzerland Retains Top Competitiveness Rank
- SBY’s Promises of Economic Stewardship? Official Miscues Don’t Inspire Confidence
- Corporate Bond Sales Up but Have Room to Grow
- China Says Debt Risks Hurt World Economy
- Asia Resilient to Global Slowdown: ADB
Indonesia
has dropped two places in this year’s Global Competitiveness Report, bringing a
sudden halt to an impressive climb that had seen it climb 11 places during the
last two years.
“Indonesia
remains one of the best-performing countries within the developing Asia region,
behind Malaysia and China yet ahead of India, Vietnam and the Philippines,” the
World Economic Forum wrote in its report.
The
Geneva-based non-profit foundation annually compares the operating environments
for businesses in 130 economies across the globe.
The report,
which was released on Wednesday, ranked Indonesia 46th in global
competitiveness, just behind Portugal.
However,
the WEF mentioned several key factors that were dragging down the nation’s
investment climate: corruption, poor public services and over-burdened
infrastructure, including ports, water and electricity.
It also
cited the nation’s poor preparedness to adopt sophisticated business
information and communication technology.
“Despite
efforts to tackle the issue, corruption and bribery remain pervasive and are
singled out by business executives as the most problematic factors for doing
business in the country,” the WEF’s report said.
Business
leaders said the report showed that progress in Indonesia’s business climate in
the past two years had been hampered by familiar hurdles, such as delays in
purchasing land for the development of highways and seaports.
Chris
Kanter, the deputy chairman of the Indonesian Chamber of Commerce and Industry
(Kadin), said he did not see any major breakthrough in infrastructure
development.
“Infrastructure,
again, is wiping out our achievements of the past few years,” he said. “One of
the obstacles is land acquisition. Why does it take so long to revise the law?
How can this nation delay on something that is so critical for development?”
Chris is
also the chairman and founder of Sigma Sembada Group, one of the country’s most
prominent transportation and logistics contractors.
Harry
Warganegara, the head of international trade at the Indonesia Young
Entrepreneurs Association (Hipmi), said the report fit his perception of
Indonesia’s declining competitiveness.
“By my
reckoning, we should have dropped five places or more,” Harry said, adding that
he agreed with the WEF that the biggest culprit was corruption and sluggish
bureaucrats.
“We are a
high-cost economy,” Harry said. “There are unofficial or quasi-official tariffs
everywhere. Oranges from Medan are more expensive than oranges imported from
China. That says it all.”
- Switzerland (1)
- Singapore (3)
- Sweden (2)
- Finland (7)
- US (4)
- Germany (5)
- Netherlands (8)
- Denmark (9)
- Japan (8)
- UK (12)
No comments:
Post a Comment
Note: Only a member of this blog may post a comment.