INDONESIA
FOREIGN WORKERS REGULATION: RIGHTS & WRONGS
By Ibrahim Kholilul Rohman and Morten Meyerhoff Nielsen
The Jakarta Post-May 7
The phenomenon of the influx of foreign labor into Indonesia has led to a debate among political parties, corporate interests and the public at large. The focus of the debate revolves around the newly issued Presidential Regulation No. 20/2018 on foreign workers. Some see the regulation as solely facilitating a greater influx of foreigners at a time when Indonesia is grappling with unemployment. President Joko “Jokowi” Widodo has countered this view by asserting that the regulation focuses on the much needed modernization of bureaucratic procedures for foreign workers and the issuance of work permits.
Vice President Jusuf Kalla backed the regulation, emphasizing the potential for increasing foreign investment by streamlining administrative requirements for investors. He stressed that foreign workers are important for boosting investment, capital inflows and the potential transfer of knowledge and skills that might raise the quality of local human capital. The vice president illustrated how Thailand exports more than Indonesia while hosting ten times more foreign workers in relative terms.
Read more at: http://www.thejakartapost.com/academia/2018/05/07/foreign-worker-regulation-the-rights-and-wrongs.html
First published in: The Jakarta Post
