ICC’s Strategies for Improving National Competition.

Jakarta (16/2) – Indonesia Competition Commission (ICC) has underscored various strategies to improve the performance of the national competition in order to scale up competition index as mandated by the Government’s Medium Term Development Plan (RPJMN). There are three strategies being emphasized by ICC. The first strategy is through the issuance of a Presidential Regulation for the national strategy of fair business competition. The second strategy is through the harmonization and reforming of the central and regional regulations in reducing barriers to business and entry into the market, as well as reducing high economic costs, especially in the regions the level of business competition of which is still low and the third strategy is by way of giving broader opportunities to regional business actors, especially the small and medium scale business actors in the real estate sector and construction services by way of amending the regulations in respect of the procurement of goods and services. The three strategies above were conveyed by the Chairman of ICC, M. Afif Hasbullah, in his remarks during the Delivery of Strategies for Improving the Performance of the National Competition and the Bestowing of the 2023 ICC Award which was held in a hybrid fashion in Jakarta today.

For your information, the level of competition in Indonesia based on the results of the assessment of competition index is summed up as still slightly high. In 2022, the index showed 4.87 points from a scale of 7, a slight increase as compared to that of in 2021 of 4.81 points, the said figure must reach 5 index points in 2024 based on the RPJMN target. Therefore, the President of the Republic of Indonesia in this regard requested that the level of business competition be improved.

As part of efforts to improve the competition index, the Vice President of the Republic of Indonesia, K. H. Ma’ruf Amin, together with the Chairman of ICC during the said activity also bestowed the 2023 ICC Award to 10 (ten) Ministries/Institutions and 11 (eleven) Provincial Governments that have contributed best to the mainstreaming  of competition policies and overseeing the implementation of partnerships, both at central and regional level. The ICC Award 2023 ceremony is the third event organized by ICC as a form of appreciation for Government’s active roles in supporting the creation of a fair competition climate in Indonesia.

In his direction during the said activity, the Vice President of the Republic of Indonesia underscored that it is unlikely to achieve economic democracy without fair business competition. Therefore, it is important for ICC to put forward issues of balanced and equitable economic democracy, specifically in implementing business competition policies and optimizing the potential of MSMEs for the sake of a fair and conducive national economic structure. Furthermore, ICC needs to seek a formulation that goes beyond competition, namely collaboration, especially in today’s digital economy era, wherein agility is everything. This will open up a lot of opportunities for MSMEs to become more active in the global supply chains. ICC needs to continue strengthening its synergies with the Ministries/Agencies, regional governments, and related stakeholders.

The Vice President of the Republic of Indonesia also gave a mandate to all the policymakers, including regional governments to adopt regulations related to the supervision of business competition in policymaking in a simpler, more applicative, and noncomplicated fashion. This then also includes ascertaining the compliance with the implementation of rules and regulations by business actors in order to enhance the trust of investors and other stakeholders, as well as safeguarding the interests of the state and the public, market interests, and business actors in a proportional and accountable fashion.

The Chairman of ICC, M. Afif Hasbullah, expressed his appreciation to the Vice President of the Republic of Indonesia and the Government ranging from the level of Ministers, Governors, Regents, Mayors, and all the Central and Regional rank and file who have provided supports through the preparation of policies that are in line with the values of fair business competition and supports in institutionally strengthening ICC. Furthermore, the Chairman of ICC explained that the improvement of business competition is simply the same as improving productivity.

“The key is the policy and consistency in the implementation and oversight of the policy. Economic policies made must be able to scale up company incentives so as to reduce costs, improve transparency in prices among competitors, facilitate consumers to be critical, ease companies to enter and exit the market, and promote the desires of companies to innovate,” said the Chairman of ICC.