The diplomatic policies of the next president will be based on economic interests ..."
Jakarta (ANTARA News) - The presidential and vice presidential candidate pair, Joko "Jokowi" Widodo and Jusuf Kalla (Jokowi-JK) appear more promising than the Prabowo-Hatta duo to make economic reforms, noted Wijayanto Samirin, an economic expert at the Paramadina University.

"Supported by slim coalition with no intention of power sharing, the Jokowi-JK pair has no burden to carry out economic reforms. On the other hand, the Prabowo-Hatta pair has the burden of a large coalition and problems," Samirin stated here on Thursday.

He pointed out that Jokowi-JKs effort to build a slim coalition without certain conditions was the most appropriate and correct decision.

Further, Samirin added that economic diplomacy can be a challenge for the next president of Indonesia.

"The diplomatic policies of the next president will be based on economic interests, and therefore, the elected president in the July 9 presidential election should be wise enough to appoint a foreign affairs minister who understands the economy," Samirin explained.

But he remarked that Indonesia should not worry about the ASEAN Economic Community 2015 (AEC 2015) as zero percent tax for goods and services will then become applicable.

Samirin pointed out that even today, the tax on numerous goods and services is almost zero percent since the process of tax reduction has already happened gradually since the past decade.
(Uu.O001/INE/KR-BSR)

Editor: Priyambodo RH
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