By: Adi Ginanjar *
In the vice presidential debate that has been held, Vice President Ma’ruf Amin said that the number of Foreign Workers (TKA) in Indonesia is still under control, which is below 0.01 percent. He mentioned this when giving a response to Sandiaga Uno, who at that time asked about the freedom given by the government to TKA. He claims the number of foreign workers is the lowest in the world.
“Foreign workers in Indonesia are controlled by the existing rules. The amount is below 0.01 percent. And that is the lowest in the whole world, “said Fufr in the Vice President’s debate.
Ma’ruf Amin also succeeded in dismissing Sandiaga’s view regarding TKA as if he had taken over jobs for Indonesian citizens.
“They occupy positions that have no HR in the country. I think that’s the policy that is currently available, “he said.
He also added that together with Joko Widodo it would always provide a conducive climate and ease of financial access such as the People’s Business Credit (KUR) to grow the business world. In addition, he also said that the government had given birth to 1000 start-ups in the past 4 years. He also targets to build 3500 start-ups by 2024 to create new jobs for the people of Indonesia.
Based on Article 4 (1) of Presidential Decree No. 20 of 2018 concerning TKA, each TKA employer must prioritize the use of Indonesian labor in all types of available services. While Article 4 (2) mentions in terms of positions that cannot yet be occupied by Indonesian workers, these positions can be occupied by TKA. The number of foreign workers in Indonesia in 2018 was 95,355. When compared with ASEAN countries, the ratio of TKA use is the lowest, namely 0.01 percent.
We already know that the acceptance of foreign workers in Indonesia is an issue that is fought by political opponents. What was the government’s consideration that was not raised due to the heat of protests from supporters of the challengers. Former President Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono and Candidate for President Prabowo Subianto both showed a firm attitude towards the regulation. SBY forced the Jokowi government to stop “attacking” domestic workers, while the opposition presidential candidate warned about the danger of wide open employment opportunities for foreign workers.
But apparently, the regulation was not something radical, most of it only changed the administrative and bureaucratic systems. The main objective is to accelerate the time money is needed to process requests for foreign labor approvals submitted by companies in Indonesia. PP20 tries to implement a faster process (around 2 days). As for matters related to technical applications in the government, allowing visa applications for potential foreign workers at foreign embassies (until now the visa application process still has to be sent to Jakarta, and giving authority to the Ministry of Manpower, no longer being handled by the Ministry of Immigration .
The new regulation no longer applies binding restrictions. There are no Indonesian language proficiency requirements, there are no restrictions on the field of work, short term restrictions on contracts or the need for foreign workers to work with local workers.
However, Indonesia still has strict regulations on prospective foreign workers for the field of technology and professional development. In Southeast Asia, Indonesia is more like the Philippines than Malaysia or Thailand.
The regulation seems to be a political step that has been planned and shows the spirit of reform in the implementation of public policy in Indonesia under the Joko Widodo administration. Indonesia needs expert foreign workers especially to develop the economic sector.
Foreign workers are urgently needed to develop a variety of activities related to the gleamed world that encourage the development of the industrial sector and services. This includes promoting technological change in areas that are under the scope of “Industry 4.0”. Foreign workers are also needed to support Chinese investment and the Belt and Road (BRI) initiative, Indonesia with its huge infrastructure deficit hopes to benefit slowly from these investments in the next few decades. The investment is estimated at 100 billion US dollars.
With the presence of foreign workers in Indonesia, the reform of foreign worker regulations can certainly be considered as a progress that must be appreciated as a plus. Jokowi’s government in 4 years of work continues to make Indonesia more developed and developed.
- The author is a Contributor to the Indonesian Strategic Information Study Institute (LSISI)