Indonesia comes up with 'omnibus laws' to fix investment climate

President of Indonesia Joko Widodo is going to hand over the so-called omnibus laws to replace dozens of overlapping measures in a step to improve the investment climate and create more job opportunities in Southeast Asia’s biggest economy. His new approach comes as efforts to gear up investment opportunities in his first term which were often blunted by red tape and vested interests. The new law aims to package multiple, unrelated areas of legislation which can be agreed with a single vote. Critics said that they can be used to avoid debate and scrutiny.

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Bill to ease 82 existing laws

Widodo after being sworn in as the President planned a job creation omnibus bill to ease 82 existing laws hampering businesses. Finance Minister Sri Mulyani Indrawati also plans to reform the tax system by revising seven laws in a single bill. The bill will cover 11 areas which include steps to ease restrictive labour laws and allow the government to establish a land bank to allocate space to investors. The bill will ease investment rules and target issues ranging from immigration to intellectual property rights, according to the reports. Indonesian President Joko Widodo recently inaugurated ministries in his second term-cabinet and ordered his new cabinet ministers to simplify the country's regulatory framework within their first month in office.

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Widodo ordered to revise 74 laws

He stressed how the new administration's priority should be to create new jobs in Southeast Asia's biggest economy. He further added that the ministers should work as a team to identify Central and regional government regulations that overlap and are complicated. He further ordered to identify anything that hampers the nation's services to the people or anything that hampers investment by the business community. 

President Widido has also ordered to revise 74 laws by applying 'omnibus laws', or legislation that encompasses diverse and unrelated issues. The Indonesian president has reportedly complained that the country has not attracted much investment from the manufacturers trying to move out of China compared with other Southeast Asian countries. According to international reports, Widodo has kept some economic ministers including the Finance Minister Sri Mulyani Indrwate and his longtime ally Pandjaitan in his new team. 

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