The Job Creation Law is the Foundation for Realizing a Golden Indonesia
By: Nana Gunawan *)
The Job Creation Law (UU) is a serious effort by the Government to achieve the target of a Golden Indonesia by 2045. The government wants a strong transformation, especially in the regulatory sector, to push Indonesia out of the middle income trap category into a developed country. To achieve this goal, Indonesia needs a strong commitment and policies to realize change, including strengthening the economy. That way, Indonesia can achieve the desired target, namely Golden Indonesia 2045.
Chair of the Socialization Strategy Working Group of the Task Force for the Acceleration of Socialization of the Job Creation Law, Dimas Oky Nugroho, said that one of the Government’s efforts to strengthen the country’s economy is to increase the investment sector. It is hoped that the Job Creation Law will facilitate investment routes both from within and outside the country, including business permits within the country. Dimas Oky also said that the Job Creation Law would pave the way for the younger generation in setting up their businesses. It is hoped that the Job Creation Law can optimize the availability of jobs and employment in Indonesia because the labor market in Indonesia is considered quite large.
Meanwhile, Secretary of the Job Creation Law Task Force, Arif Budimanta, said that there needs to be a continuous transformation process in Indonesia with tactical planning. Then, there needs to be a flexible structure in the bureaucratic process in the midst of a dynamic global economy. According to him, the Job Creation Law is a structural transformation that has been successfully carried out by the Government as well as an instrument of deregulation and debureaucratization.
Furthermore, Arif Budimanta said that with the Job Creation Law, a licensing process would be created that would provide convenience, certainty and empowerment for business actors, especially MSMEs. The spirit of business licensing must be in accordance with the tagline promoted by the PANRB Ministry, namely “Moving for Impactful Bureaucratic Reform”. This impactful bureaucratic reform, in the context of the Job Creation Law, means that every policy issued will have an impact on the level of benefit in society, such as job creation which will have an impact on absorbing new workers in Indonesia.
The government consistently encourages investment as a source of national economic growth, one of its efforts is by optimizing the implementation of the Job Creation Law. If this policy runs optimally, it will lead to economic growth performance reaching seven percent. If investment continues thanks to the Job Creation Law, national economic growth could be above 6-7 percent. In line with this, the Chair of the Data and Information Coordination Working Group, I Ktut Hadi Priatna, said that in the basic licensing requirements there will be time limits for applications relating to environmental approval, building approval, and Suitability of Space Utilization Activities (KKPR). Apart from that, I Ktut Hadi Priatna said that his party would impose sanctions especially if there were parties who violated them, because in the Job Creation Law there are provisions for tiered administrative sanctions.
The Job Creation Law needs to involve community participation in national development towards a Golden Indonesia 2045. The Job Creation Law exists with the aim of integrating and simplifying every business permit so that adjustments need to be made to regional government regulations. Indonesia has a special integration system in business licensing, namely the Online Single Submission Risk Based Approach (OSS RBA) which is the main door for various transparent and accountable business licensing. This system is expected to eliminate overlapping policies between the Central and Regional Governments so that synergy can be established harmoniously.
Of all existing systems, young people have a strategic role in building the nation and state through domestic investment. The largest investment comes from domestic investment, which if we look further, micro businesses have a huge impact on national development. To become an economically strong country, the younger generation cannot just run a business but there must be a revolutionary policy such as the Job Creation Law.
Then, the Job Creation Law encourages workers to be more creative and provides safer guarantees for workers. This is because the Job Creation Law aims to open up opportunities for business actors so that the need for employment can be absorbed from the workforce which continues to increase all the time. The Job Creation Law also helps channelize the demographic bonus by creating jobs that make it easier for everyone to carry out business activities. The President of the Republic of Indonesia, Joko Widodo, said that the Job Creation Law is not just a law, but rather builds a new culture at work that is more affirmative, inclusive, accountable and responsible.
Economic growth towards a Golden Indonesia 2045 is the result of a combination of the right policies and strong support from a number of parties who continue to work together and synergize in a spirit of mutual cooperation to help the Government encourage national economic improvement. Inclusive and sustainable policies must be the main focus so that all levels of society can feel the benefits of increasing economic growth. With appropriate strategies, it is hoped that the Job Creation Law will be able to maintain the pace of the economy so that it remains firmly rooted in stability and quality.
)* The author is an Economic Observer at the Nusa Bangsa Institute.