Ease of doing business index issued by the World Bank, Indonesia\'s ranking for import-export activities consistently declined.
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Kompas/Totok Wijayanto
Operators move containers at the Jakarta International Container Terminal (JICT), Tanjung Priok, Jakarta, on Friday (20/10).
JAKARTA, KOMPAS — According to the recently published ease of doing business index issued by the World Bank, Indonesia\'s ranking for import-export activities consistently declined during the last three years. This factor stifled the improvement in Indonesia\'s weighted rankings in all indicators.
The World Bank report ranked Indonesia 72nd out of 190 countries, jumping 37 places compared to the ranking in 2016. However, in the ranking of import-export activities, one of the important indicators for the ease of doing business ranking Indonesia was placed in 112th position, down by seven places from the position in 2016.
There are 10 indicators used by the World Bank in measuring the index, namely starting a business, dealing with construction permits (IMB), getting electricity, registering property, getting credit, protecting minority investors, export-import ease, paying taxes, contract enforcement and bankruptcy settlement. In the report, the ranking for all areas improved from their positions in 2016, except for exports and imports.
Deni Surjantoro, the head of the sub-directorate of communications and publications of the Directorate General of Customs and Excise, said in Jakarta on Friday his office should question the World Bank why the ranking on exports and imports dropped. He said that of all the indicators in export-import activities, only the processing time of import documents deteriorated, to 132.9 hours from 119.2 hours. The other indicators remained the same as those in 2016.
"What are the factors that made the export-import indicator fall? We would like to question the World Bank team directly in order to be able to make improvements," he said.
Separately, the vice chairman of the Indonesian Chamber of Commerce and Industry (Kadin) Benny Soetrisno said the documentation process in export-import activities should be done through a digital system within an integrated network.
"That is, involving the owners of goods, the logistics service provider, and the import-export authority, as well as the banks for payment," he said.
The secretary general of the Indonesian Olefin, Aromatic and Plastics Industry Association (Inaplas) Fajar Budiono said that the time for processing the value added tax (VAT) refund needed to be accelerated.
Repair
Secretary general of the Trade Ministry Karyanto Suprih said the ease of doing business in the export-import licensing sector was not optimal. The government is committed to fixing this, such as through the establishment of the Task Force for Improvement of Doing Business. One of the jobs of the task force is to remove the licensing barriers in the trade sector.
The chairman of the Indonesian Logistics Association (ALI) Zaldi Ilham Masita said that the customs reforms made within the past two years had helped improve export-import activities. The reforms as part of the deregulation package on imports and exports also had a positive impact on the logistics sector.
However, in the field of renewable energy, the ranking has declined. According to the 2017 ranking issued by Ernst and Young, Indonesia\'s position, which had reached 38 in 2016, was no longer in the top 40 of the world\'s most attractive countries for investment in renewable energy development.
The director of the Institute for Essential Services Reform, Fabby Tumiwa, said that starting from 2017, there had been inconsistencies in the development of renewable energy policies.
