By: Alfisyah Kumalasari) *
The Government and the Parliament continue to work together to realize the simplification of regulations with the Omnibus Law scheme. This approach is believed to be one of the strategic efforts to realize a developed Indonesia in 2045 because it is able to stimulate the economy.
In 2045, Indonesia will touch 100 years of age. During this time, Indonesia will also experience a demographic bonus, a phase in which the number of productive ages (15-64 years of age) is greater than the number of unproductive populations. If the demographic bonus can be maximally utilized, Indonesia can realize a golden Indonesia.
Along with this moment, Indonesian President Joko Widodo launched a vision of Indonesia going forward in 2045. To achieve this vision, Indonesia needs even higher economic growth. Therefore investment is needed especially in export-oriented industries and import substitution.
One of the important pillars in achieving the big vision of Indonesia in the coming 2045 is ensuring various strategic steps in preparing to bring investment into Indonesia, this is necessary because investment plays a role in opening the widest possible employment.
The Government’s plan to stimulate investment appears to be still constrained by the many existing regulations. In his speech at the Constitutional Court on January 28, 2020, President Jokowi said Indonesia was experiencing overlapping hyper regulation. According to him there are 8,451 rules at the central level and 15,985 regional regulations.
Many of these rules, curb government space, thus hampering the government’s speed in making decisions. In addition, the many rules are also called difficult for Indonesia in winning competitions with other countries.
The government finally took a breakthrough by cutting regulations through the Omnibus Law scheme to build a conducive investment ecosystem for the business world.
The application of the Omnibus Law has actually been widely applied in countries that adopt a common law system that aims to improve regulations in order to improve the climate and investment competitiveness.
The government also saw these opportunities as the global economic slowdown, the China-US trade war, until the outbreak of the Corona Virus. President Jokowi also focused the direction of development on accelerating economic growth in order to realize the transformation of the national economy from the dependence of natural resources towards increasing the competitiveness of modern manufacturing and services that have high added value for the prosperity of the Indonesian people.
The presence of the Omnibus Law program is expected to be a big leap and breakthrough in pursuing a stable investment climate, so that hyper-regulation which has been an obstacle to investment entry is expected to be minimized, so that economic growth in Indonesia can increase. In addition, Omnibus Law is also believed to be able to facilitate licensing, so as to provide legal certainty for investors
The Omnibus Law approach is also expected to be an innovation in deregulation efforts in accordance with President Jokowi’s direction. The application of the Omnibus Law is also believed to be a crucial momentum in breaking the pace of national investment because the application of the Omnibus Law can lead to employment creation whose substance in creating an investment ecosystem is conducive to strengthening the economy by creating and expanding employment.
In addition, the Omnibus Law also supports an increase in the investment ecosystem and easiness for SMEs, one of which is the convenience if you want to apply for halal certification.
In practice, passing an omnibus law is not easy, because one that must be changed is Law Number 12 of 2011 concerning the Formation of Regulations. The idea of making the Law of the world sweep must not forget public participation and respect for the constitution and legal principles. In the omnibus law about job creation, it was identified that there was the issue of workers’ severance that would be terminated by employment that is often conveyed by employers, potentially provoking resistance from trade unions. Nevertheless it is a challenge that must be anticipated together.
The public hopes that the completion of the design and discussion of the omnibus law will run smoothly according to a predetermined schedule. The reason is that the Omnibus Law is believed to have many influences on national economic growth which is currently likely to stagnate.
And in the end, the Omnibus Law is a big leap to push the Vision of Indonesia Forward 2045 and risk mitigation due to global dynamics. Broad community support is needed considering the community will also receive benefits.
) * The author is a social political observer
