President Joko “Jokowi” Widodo in his introductory remarks at a limited meeting on omnibus bills on job creation and taxation ordered his Cabinet to complete omnibus bills this week. The President has also set a target that omnibus bills must be completed before 100 working days since the cabinet was formed.
“We must meet the set target; therefore, I call for a clear time frame. If there are issues, please raise them and we will address it,” said the President.
Omnibus Law on Job Creation will amend at least 79 Laws and 1,244 Articles, Coordinating Minister for the Economy Airlangga Hartarto has said.
“There are 79 Laws and 1,244 Articles (that will be amended). However, it is subject to change, depending on the legal drafting process. We seek to complete the process at the end of this week,” the Coordinating Minister.
The Government, he added, has also drafted regulations for the implementation of the Omnibus Law. The implementing regulations cover 11 clusters, including acceleration of the preparation spatial plan/detailed spatial plan, Norm, Standard, Procedures and Criteria of the environment, environmental licensing, Norm, Standard, Procedures and Criteria for buildings, building technical standards, building prototypes, and list of investment priorities.
He also explained that the Tax Law would be drafted separately. “The Presidential Letter (of the Tax Law) will be prepared along with the Presidential Letter of the Omnibus law. The President has said that not all of the provisions would be included in the omnibus law,” he said, adding that technical provisions would be stipulated in Government Regulations, Presidential Regulation, or other regulations.
The purpose of the Omnibus Law is to drive and transform the economy so that new jobs can be created, Coordinating Minister for the Economy Airlangga Hartarto has said. “Our workforce increases by 2 million each year with an average growth of 5 percent,” Airlangga said after a Limited Cabinet Meeting at the Presidential Office, Jakarta, Wednesday (15/1).
According to the Minister, the total workforce currently stands at 133.56 million and among 126 million of workforce are employed, consisting of informal workers and formal workers.
“The substance of the omnibus law has been discussed with 31 ministries/agencies. We also received input from various stakeholders and discussed with several labor unions and others,” Airlangga said.
The omnibus law, Airlangga continued, consists of 11 clusters, namely licensing simplification; investment requirements; employment, facilities, empowerment, and protection of Micro, Small, and Medium Enterprises (MSMEs); Ease of Doing Business (EoDB); research and innovation support; government administration; provision of penalty; the land acquisition; government investment and projects; economic zone as well as industrial area.
“As of this afternoon 1,244 articles and 79 laws have been identified,” the Minister said, adding that the number is not equal to the number of articles revoked.
Airlangga went on to say that President Joko “Jokowi” Widodo has ordered each ministry to conduct dissemination to the public and to regions related to the implementation of the law.
“Pak President also hopes that discussions with party seated in the House of Representatives will be held immediately,” the Minister concluded.