Jakarta. President Joko "Jokowi"Widodo has asked regional governments to stop issuingtoo many localregulations and told his ministries to cull at least ten regulations before issuing a new one to cut bureaucratic red tapes andimprovethe country's competitiveness.
The president has already made regulatory reform one of his mainprioritiesin his second term. Jokowi was even willing to build a wide coalition in the cabinet to ensure support in the House of Representatives.
Now the president is pressuring theregional heads to follow his directive. Due to Indonesia's regional autonomy laws, regional leaders are immenselypowerful andtheir actions do notalways fall into line with central government policies.
"Wealready have toomany regulations. We need to entangle them. If every little thing needs a specific regulation, we'd always be slow totake action oradapt to changes,"Jokowi told hundreds of regional heads in a national coordination meeting on Wednesday.
Jokowi promised a sevenpercent growth whenhe became president in 2014 but the Indonesianeconomy has only been able to expand by around 5 percent annually since then.
Red tapes remain one of the main challenges inboostinginvestment,which is why the presidentis convinced simplifying them isthe key for the pace of growth he wants.
The president told his ministers to lead by example and push for regulatory reforms in their own ministries.
"If a minister wants to issueone new regulation, he or she must remove ten regulations first, not just two. Having too many regulations makes things very confusing," Jokowi said.
He said he took hisinspiration from a meeting with the United States Secretary of Commerce Wilbur Ross who said the US was now trading one new regulation with two old ones to simplify bureaucracy.
Jokowi saidflexibility and speed in the bureaucracy are very important for Indonesia. All countries are heading in that direction.
"Whoever is faster, wins. Everyone take note. Wemust understand and fix our own problems," Jokowi said.
Police Under Scrutiny
The president also promised he woulddismisslaw enforcement officials who inhibit innovations.
In April, police arrested a farmer who sold a variety of rice seeds he cultivated from a subsidized seed provided by Jokowi's campaign team.
The farmer's fault was that he did not secure the proper paperwork before selling the seeds.
While not specifically referring to the case, the president said he did not want to see a similar incident in the future.
"Never come between innovation andprogress inthis country," he said.
"I will not tolerate law enforcement officials who try to inhibit innovation orfrighten and blackmail bureaucrats, officialsand business people. I will find out," Jokowi said.
If there was no malicious intent, do not go about and looking for one, the president said."If there are potential legal issues, remind them before they go on with their project,usea preventive approach. Do not wait for them[to violate the law], and then give them troubles," Jokowi said.Regional SupportAbdullah Azwar Anas, the chairman of the Association of Regional Governments (Apkasi), welcomed the president's direction."The president has told us what his priorities are. All theregional heads will follow them," Azwarsaid onthe sidelines of the meeting in Bogor, West Java, on Wednesday.
"Maybe a meetinglike this with the president shouldbe held every three months,"Azwar said."Witha forum like this, ministers won'thave tomeet us individually anymore, since everyone isclear on what general directionthe government is heading to. Organizing meetings with each ministry is a bighassle for us,"he said.
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For Every New Regulation, Cull Ten: Jokowi Tells Ministers and Regional Heads - Jakarta Globe