We have also set our sights on working with the government to ensure that the protocol is followed by companies and their employees, so that the workplace does not become a hotbed of the pandemicJakarta (ANTARA) - Indonesian Chamber of Commerce and Industry (Kadin) Deputy Chairperson Shinta Kamdani echoed the business operators’ readiness to resume economic activities as normal as possible while adhering to government-imposed health protocols in the “new normal” situation.
"We have also set our sights on working with the government to ensure that the protocol is followed by companies and their employees, so that the workplace does not become a hotbed of the pandemic," Shinta stated when contacted in Jakarta on Wednesday.
The Kadin deputy chairperson pointed out that currently, businesses, in coordination with the government, were preparing a task force and standard operating procedures (SOPs), including health protocols in each sector, given the different working conditions in each sector.
"Thus, economic activities of companies nationwide can run more smoothly," Shinta noted.
Speaking in connection with the impact on manufacturing performance and exports and imports, Shinta calls to adopt wait-and-watch approach to gauge how the normalization process proceeded.
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Shinta voiced the business actors’ aspirations of an improvement in manufacturing and export-import performance, from the previous two months in the event of normalization or a new normal.
"With a new normal, logistical constraints, restrictions on operating hours, various forms of quarantine, and pressure from the local government to close operations will decrease, so the company's operations for both domestic and export consumption can be drastically reduced and manufacturing performance nationally can be higher," Shinta expounded.
However, Shinta remarked that pressure on manufacturing and export-import performance was not solely due to regulations pertaining to large-scale social restrictions (PSBB) or other pandemic control measures but also arose from factors of the national and global market demand for the recovery time.
Kadin projects the demand for exports and national consumption to increase after transitioning to a new normal as compared to the past month or two. However, the increase is considered to be protracted and not as high as during the pre-pandemic period.
This can occur if application of the new normal protocol does not increase transmission of the disease in Indonesia.
"Thus, there is no pressure from the community or the international community pertaining to national policy responses to a pandemic that can fuel trade discrimination or negative sentiments towards businesses and the investment climate in Indonesia," Shinta noted.
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Translator: Sella P, Azis Kurmala
Editor: Yuni Arisandy Sinaga
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