We must simplify them to enable us to address this rapidly-changing world quickly
Jakarta (ANTARA) - President Joko Widodo (Jokowi) acknowledged that Indonesia’s myriad complicated regulations had entrapped it and impeded the government from responding promptly and swiftly to this rapidly changing world.

Speaking at an event of “the Constitutional Court's (MK's) 2019 Annual Report” in Jakarta on Tuesday, President Jokowi highlighted that Indonesia has had 8,451 nation-level regulations and 15,985 regional-level regulations.

"There are government, presidential, ministerial, director generals', and regional governments' regulations. We must simplify them to enable us to address this rapidly-changing world quickly," he pointed out.

In coping with this challenging reality, the 1945 State Constitution has, in fact, provided the nation the freedom to act, he told the attendees at the event comprising MK Chief Justice Anwar Usman, MK Deputy Chief of Justice Aswanto, and its panel of judges.

"We are so thankful for our founding fathers, who had formulated the 1945 Constitution. It remains relevant timelessly. The State Constitution regulates fundamental matters that we have sufficient freedom to make regulations so that we are ready to respond to the changing world and win the global competition," he affirmed.

However, those in the government had made plenty of regulations that had inhibited prompt and quick response to rapid changes and winning the competition, he cautioned.

President Jokowi has, on different occasions, highlighted the significance of solving this problem.

President Jokowi also brought up this issue while addressing a working lunch meeting with a select number of South Korean CEOs at Lotte Hotel Busan, South Korea, on Nov 25, 2019.

Jokowi told the South Korean CEOs that the Indonesian government had pledged to create a more attractive investment climate in the next five years.

"My commitment is clear. In five years' time, the investment climate will increasingly become attractive. We will continue to simplify regulations while simultaneously streamlining bureaucracy," Jokowi stated.

Indonesia will apply an "omnibus law" to slash nearly 70-74 percent of laws simultaneously. Regulations that impede investment inflows would be scrapped, he stated.

Furthermore, the government will also streamline bureaucracy in a way that decisions would be taken more quickly, he stated, adding that the echelon 3 and echelon 4 in the Indonesian bureaucracy would be slashed.

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Translator: Desca LN, Rahmad Nasution
Editor: Sri Haryati
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