"We will maintain the momentum so that the growth would remain above six percent," Coordinating Minister for Economic Affairs Hatta Rajasa said.
Jakarta (ANTARA News) - The government and businessmen agreed to keep the momentum of growth so that the economy would remain to be above six percent.

"We will maintain the momentum so that the growth would remain above six percent," Coordinating Minister for Economic Affairs Hatta Rajasa said after a coordination meeting with businessmen here on Friday.

For the purpose, efforts would be taken to maintain public buying power, improve investment climate and competitiveness.

The meeting was also attended by industry minister MS Hidayat, manpower minister Muhaimin Iskandar, deputy finance minister Mahendra Siregar and the general chairman of the Indonesian Employers` Association (Apindo), Sofjan Wanandi.

Hatta said bureaucracy would be cut to ease investment licensing procedures, the List of Negative Investment would be revised and extension of a number of incentives would be eased.

"We have discussed them all to increase competitiveness in the wider sense and we will meet regularly every two months and periodically to evaluate responses towards policies that we take," he said.

In the near future the government and businessmen also agreed to assure supply of basic necessaries ahead of the post-fasting holiday of Lebaran until the end of the year, improve tax reform and accelerate goods flows at Tanjung Priok port to cut logistic cost.

Industry minister MS Hidayat meanwhile said to maintain investment climate the government asked businessmen not to conduct layoffs in labor-intensive sectors.

He said the government would issue a special policy of fixing the minimum wage increase at around 20 percent including for small and medium industries as a standard reference that would be discussed later in a tripartite forum.

"The hike of the minimum wage last year was so high and must not happen again next year because current situation is not favorable while we wish to maintain the industrial growth to remain high," he said.

Hidayat said the government would also strive to assure smooth flows of goods at the Tanjung Priok port and issue regulations requiring obligation of the use of rupiah in the area.

"Tanjung Priok is the channel of the private sector`s potentials in Java and so must be smooth and we will issue regulations obliging the use of rupiah because the dollar use is now dominant," he said.

He said other efforts that the government would take are changing the industrial zone limit so far set at only 400 hectares and relaxing a number of regulations to reduce logistic cost.(*)

Editor: Heru Purwanto
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