Thursday, April 18, 2019

The Irrawaddy Magazine

The Irrawaddy Magazine

Authorities Vow Probe as Ivory Coast Destroys ‘Unfit’ Myanmar Rice Shipment

Posted: 18 Apr 2019 06:29 AM PDT

NAYPYITAW—The country's rice industry received bad news this week when it came out that officials in Ivory Coast had destroyed 18,000 tons of rice from Myanmar on Wednesday. The Ministry of Commerce and the Myanmar Rice Federation (MRF) said they would investigate the incident and publicize the results soon.

On Wednesday, the African News republished a report by BBC Africa that quoted health officials in Ivory Coast as saying they had destroyed tons of rice that had been declared unfit for human consumption.

In the report, which included photos, they pointed out that the destroyed rice had come from Myanmar. In the photos, a truck can be seen dumping rice into a landfill.

According to the report, the rice shipment had been denied entry to other ports in West African countries including Ghana, Guinea and Togo due to quality issues.

Within hours of the report appearing, the destroyed rice issue had become the talk of the town in Myanmar. U Khin Maung Lwin, assistant permanent secretary of the Ministry of Commerce, told The Irrawaddy on Thursday that the ministry will check with exporters, the MRF and third party inspection agencies about what happened prior to the shipment's departure for Africa in October last year.

"We received messages from that ship in March, before it took the rice to Ivory Coast, that it would return to Myanmar with some 18,000 tons of rice because it couldn't unload it in Togo. We had been asking them to return to Myanmar since March, but they dropped the shipment in Ivory Coast [despite saying they would return], and [this incident] happened," U Khin Maung Lwin said.

The shipment left Myanmar with 22,000 tons of rice in October 2018. After dropping 4,000 tons of rice in Togo, the crew was unable to offload the rest of the rice in other African countries as it had spoiled.

"Here rice exporters normally export rice using the FOB [Free on Board] system, which means that after sending the rice, they are not responsible; buyers are responsible for the issue. However, we will scrutinize what happened so it does not happen again," U Khin Maung Lwin said.

U Ye Min Aung, secretary general of the MRF, the country's largest rice association, posted on his Facebook account that the federation will scrutinize all the facts and data about what happened in Africa.

He wrote that the African market for rice is very competitive as many other countries such as India, Pakistan and Vietnam also ship rice there. The process of exporting Myanmar rice to Africa is somewhat complicated. Rice exporters normally make contracts under the FOB system with buyers outside Myanmar. When the buyers can't sell that rice on time to their target market, the rice can be in storage for a long time on the ship.

That can leave the rice unfit to consume. In this case, U Ye Min Aung posted that the fact that the shipment had been delayed and passed through four countries could be the major reason the rice was unfit to consume. He said that the buyer is responsible in most cases.

Soe Tun, a member of the MRF's Central Executive Committee and CEO of the Ayeyar Mittar Public Co., told The Irrawaddy that the long storage period was the major problem in this case and he didn't think the problem was connected to the use of chemicals.

"We have been exporting rice to Africa for a long time, but the rice exported there is low quality because of the low price. I think this has become an issue," he said.

He said he heard a ship had been facing problems for the past three months while stopping over in an African country as the rice weight had been reduced. He said it could be caused by a moisture problem.

"The MRF will be checking this issue and will make a public announcement soon. Yes, it is time to issue a caution on how to produce the best quality rice by using technology," he said.

According to Soe Tun, Myanmar exports rice to Benin, Cameroon, Congo, Ghana, Kenya, Mozambique, Ivory Coast, Senegal, Sierra Leone and Togo in Africa. Of the total rice exports of 2 million tons this year, 700,000 tons went to Africa. Some 1 million tons was exported to China through border trade.

However, this is not the first time an African country has rejected and destroyed Myanmar rice. A similar problem was experienced five or six years ago, rice industry sources said. Due to the highly competitive situation, Myanmar could lose market share, they said.

"Some established international traders can easily push out new traders if they want to manipulate the market. However, we must be aware of this and control our quality as well," an experienced rice expert told The Irrawaddy.

The MRF said that it would first contact the BBC and African News to ask them how they received the information they reported.

The MRF said it is attempting to promote Myanmar rice as a good quality product among exporters and third party inspection agencies before exporting. It will also make an effort to contact end buyers apart from other traders.

Myanmar was once known as the "rice bowl of Asia" and was a major industry player until decades of economic mismanagement by successive military regimes sent exports tumbling.

Exports have been shipped to 64 countries including China and Japan, as well as other nations in Asean, Europe and Africa, since 2014.

In 2014, Myanmar experienced a similar issue when China officially banned rice imports from this country, demanding that a trade agreement be signed guaranteeing that most rice is milled and meets certain quality standards. China has long been one of Myanmar's biggest customers for rice, much of which is harvested in the Irrawaddy Delta and shipped over land borders in Shan and Kachin states.

The post Authorities Vow Probe as Ivory Coast Destroys 'Unfit' Myanmar Rice Shipment appeared first on The Irrawaddy.

Journalists in Myanmar Still Under Threat Despite Latest Pulitzer Wins

Posted: 18 Apr 2019 05:57 AM PDT

YANGON — With two more of its reporters winning the Pulitzer Prize this week, Myanmar now has four awardees of the prestigious journalism honor.

Esther Htusan was a part of the Associated Press team to win the Pulitzer for public service in 2016 for uncovering a human trafficking operation in Southeast Asia, becoming the first person from Myanmar to win the prize in any category. Last year, Reuters' Soe Zeya Tun was among the agency's photographers to win the prize for feature photography for its coverage of the mass exodus of Rohingya from Myanmar to Bangladesh.

Two Reuters reporters, Wa Lone and Kyaw Soe Oo, were the latest Myanmar journalists to win when the Pulitzer Center handed out an award for international reporting to Reuters staff on Monday for their investigation into the killing of 10 Rohingya men in northern Rakhine State as part of a military-led campaign that began in 2017. The pair led the investigation but they have been in jail for more than a year now after their arrest — and subsequent conviction — for exposing state secrets, which they deny.

On Tuesday, Reuters Editor-in-Chief Stephen Adler said that despite being thrilled that Wa Lone. Kyaw Soe Oo and their colleagues were recognized for their extraordinary, courageous coverage, he was also saddened.

“I remain deeply distressed…that our brave reporters Wa Lone and Kyaw Soe Oo are still behind bars," he said.

Their arrest and conviction highlight the fact that Myanmar journalists face great risks in doing their jobs.

Myanmar climbed 20 places in Reporters Without Borders’ World Press Freedom Index between 2013 and 2017 but has since slipped and is now ranked 138 out of 180 countries.

Journalists are still often prosecuted under Article 66 (d) of the Telecommunications Act, which criminalizes online defamation and hampers investigative reporting. Dozens of journalists have been subjected to criminal prosecution for their work by both the government and military. Among those charged by the military have been journalists from The Irrawaddy and The Voice. Last year, three journalists from Eleven Media were sued by the Yangon government for incitement.

According to Athan, a Yangon-based group that promotes freedom of expression, there have been 23 cases brought against the media under the Telecommunications Act and 31 journalists have been put on trial.

Shawn Crispin, of the Committee to Protect Journalists, told The Irrawaddy that Myanmar’s journalists face an array of threats, from spurious defamation lawsuits to physical assault to imprisonment, all of which impede their ability to freely report the news.

He said hopes that Daw Aung San Suu Kyi would usher in a new era of press freedom when her party took power in early 2016 after decades of military-imposed censorship have been dashed. If Myanmar wants to be seen internationally as a functioning democracy, Crispin added, it must stop jailing and threatening journalists and instead respect and protect the media’s role as a check on the government.

"Until that day dawns, Myanmar will be viewed from a press freedom perspective in the same dim light as it was under previous military dictatorships,” he said.

The post Journalists in Myanmar Still Under Threat Despite Latest Pulitzer Wins appeared first on The Irrawaddy.

Political Prisoners Miss Out in President’s New Year Amnesty

Posted: 18 Apr 2019 04:47 AM PDT

YANGON—Despite the release of more than 9,500 inmates under the Presidential pardon for this New Year's holiday, many political prisoners remain behind bars, disappointing their families as well as observers.

On Wednesday, President U Win Myint pardoned 9,551 prisoners, including two political prisoners and 16 foreigners, under the New Year amnesty. He pardoned 8,541 prisoners last year, including 36 political prisoners and 51 foreigners.

The President's amnesty order stated that they were given unconditional amnesty, "as a gesture for marking the Myanmar New Year, to ensure the peace of mind of the people and taking into consideration humanitarian concerns."

According to the president's order, "the remaining prisoners are also under consideration for further releases."

According to the Assistance Association for Political Prisoners (AAPP), there are still 44 political prisoners serving time in prisons, 90 detainees facing trial and 228 who are on bail but are required to appear before the courts for their political activities.

Two political prisoners released were Maran Gun from Obo Prison and L Zau La from Myingyan Prison in Mandalay Region. Both had served 19 years of their life sentences, according to the AAPP. The two were both members of the Mongko Defense Army from Shan State's Special Region No. 1, a splinter group of Kokang's Myanmar National Democratic Alliance Army. They were prosecuted in 2000 on narcotics charges.

AAPP secretary U Bo Kyi said, "Political prisoners are not those destroying society; they are the ones who are trying to build a better society. If [the government] wants genuine national reconciliation, all political prisoners should be released without conditions."

He told The Irrawaddy that the National League for Democracy (NLD) government "should learn the lessons of the past. The country is now at a turning point, as Daw Aung San Suu Kyi was also released from detention and cooperated. Thus, if the incumbent government released the political prisoners and worked with those relevant persons, better results would be achieved for national reconciliation."

Most of the prisoners released were serving long sentences on convictions related to illicit drugs, according to U Min Tun Soe, the deputy director and spokesman of the Myanmar Prisons Department under the Ministry of Home Affairs.

Although there were 675 prisoners released from Yangon's Insein Prison, the two Reuters journalists Wa Lone (aka Thet Oo Maung) and Kyaw Soe Oo, who are serving seven-year prison terms under the Official Secrets Act, were not among them. The pair, who were arrested in December 2017 and convicted in September last year, were on Monday awarded the 2019 Pulitzer Prize for international reporting, one of the world's most prestigious journalism prizes.

In addition, U Zaw Zaw, the head of Insein Prison, told The Irrawaddy that the Rakhine political prisoner Dr. Aye Maung and author Ko Wai Hin Aung, who are serving 20-year prison terms; and the former child soldier Aung Ko Htwe, who is serving a two-and-a-half-year term, were not included on the pardon list.

U Myint Kyaw, the joint secretary of the Myanmar Press Council, said he was not surprised that Reuters journalists were not on the pardon list, although he believed charges not be brought against journalists who are doing their jobs.

He said that while the pair has been sentenced to many years behind bars, "It seems [the government] does not consider their cases as political. Perhaps they have not yet been released because their appeals are not yet exhausted."

Family members of political prisoners and other former political prisoners also expressed their frustration with the amnesty order, seeing it as oppression against journalists, politicians and the activists.

U Tin Maung Win, a Lower House lawmaker representing Rathaetaung constituency of Rakhine State and the son of U Aye Maung, said he did not expect a pardon "as it is questionable whether Dr. Aye Maung deserved to be prosecuted."

He added that the verdict was "unfair and the government can do anything, whether it's to arrest or to release them."

U Aye Maung and Ko Wai Hin Aung were each sentenced to 20 years' imprisonment for high treason and another two years for defamation, to be served concurrently, by Sittwe District Court on March. 19. They were both transferred to Insein Prison on April 6.

U Thein Win, the brother of Ko Wai Hin Aung, said his family did not expect his brother's release under the pardon, and thus would proceed with his appeal to the higher court this month.

Ma Nay Zar, the sister of ex-child soldier Aung Ko Htwe, said while waiting for any news about her brother in front of Insein Prison on Wednesday that she did not expect justice for him. Aung Ko Htwe was sentenced in March last year after the military charged him over a media interview in which he claimed he was abused by authorities during his first trial.

She said Aung Ko Htwe's term would end in December this year, but another inmate who was sentenced to a longer term than her brother had been released on April 12. "The law is different for each person; if we demand his release, we could also face some other charges," she said, referring to an earlier case in which two supporters of Aung Ko Htwe were sued and sentenced to a year in jail for incitement in September. We expected justice, but now we are experiencing unjust laws," she told The Irrawaddy.

Daw Lay Lay, who was repeatedly sentenced to prison for her political activities

under previous governments as well as the current government, said the government ignored political prisoners even though President U Win Myint himself was once one of them.

She questioned whether two different laws or two governments ruled Myanmar, asking, "Is the President exercising his authority, or is there any pressure [on him]?"

U Tin Maung Kyi, a member of the Movement for Democracy Current Force (MDCF) who was released from prison two weeks ago, said Myanmar should not have any political prisoners under the elected civilian government, and said the government was demonstrating its incompetence.

The post Political Prisoners Miss Out in President's New Year Amnesty appeared first on The Irrawaddy.

Year-on-Year Thingyan Holiday Deaths Drop Dramatically

Posted: 18 Apr 2019 03:34 AM PDT

MANDALAY — A total 288 people died and more than 1,000 were injured across the country during the four days of this year’s Thingyan holiday, the Ministry of Information announced Wednesday, marking a significant decrease compared to the year before.

The ministry said 29 deaths and 130 injuries were directly related to festival events, including road accidents, fights, murder and drowning.

Road accidents and fights typically spike in the lead-up festivities to Burmese New Year’s Day as many travel to other parts of the country and celebrate by drinking heavily.

Unrelated to festival events, the ministry counted 115 deaths and 728 injuries from road accidents, 31 deaths from murder, 113 deaths from downing and other incidents, and 144 injuries from fighting.

The figures include the nine people who died when an overloaded ferry headed for a Thingyan event in Sagaing Region’s Monywa Township sank on the Chindwin River on the second day of the festival.

During the 2018 Thingyan, a total 642 people died, 106 of them in road accidents.

The Information Ministry also said that 2,700 people were arrested for drug and weapons possession during this year’s festival and that police were preparing charges against them.

The post Year-on-Year Thingyan Holiday Deaths Drop Dramatically appeared first on The Irrawaddy.

Cardinal Charles Bo Asks Myanmar, Chinese Leaders to Scrap Myitsone Dam

Posted: 18 Apr 2019 02:51 AM PDT

YANGON—The Archbishop of Yangon, Cardinal Charles Bo, has called on Myanmar and Chinese leaders to permanently terminate the controversial Myitsone Dam project, saying they have a responsibility to protect the rights and lives of Myanmar citizens.

On Monday, Cardinal Charles Bo issued a statement on behalf of the people of Myanmar requesting that Myanmar State Counselor Daw Aung San Suu Kyi, President U Win Myint, and military chief Senior General Min Aung Hlaing, as well as Chinese President Xi Jinping, stop their efforts to revive the dam project.

The issue has caused alarm among Myanmar citizens, as China is pushing to restart the dam project, while the Myanmar government has not taken a clear stance.

The proposed US$3.6-billion (5.46 trillion kyats) dam on Myanmar's lifeline, the Irrawaddy River, in Kachin State was suspended in 2011 due to nationwide opposition amid warnings the project would disrupt the flow of sediment in the country's main waterway, harming agricultural livelihoods, and flood an area twice the size of Singapore, displacing thousands of people.

However, Beijing has recently stepped up its pressure on Kachin leaders, saying that Xi is a strong supporter of the Myitsone Dam project as it is needed to implement his ambitious Belt and Road Initiative. There were a series of protests against the project across the country after Chinese Ambassador Hong Liang claimed that the Kachin people were not opposed to its resumption at the end of December.

Prominent environmentalists, activist and writers formed a nationwide committee on April 1 to oppose the project and warned the government of more resistance if it were revived.

In a statement in the Jingpho (Kachin) language, Cardinal Charles Bo expressed his concern at the prospect of losing the most sacred symbol of the Kachin people due to the construction of the dam project.

Moreover, he stressed that as the Irrawaddy River is the lifeblood of the nation, all citizens who rely on it would face a catastrophe if the dam ever broke.

"Our hearts are burdened with the impending risk to millions," the cardinal said.

State Counselor Daw Aung San Suu Kyi is scheduled to visit Beijing for the second Belt and Road Forum from April 25-27, where she is expected to discuss controversial Chinese projects in Myanmar including the Myitsone Dam. There is growing concern among people in Myanmar that China will pressure her into restarting work on the dam.

Last month, Daw Aung San Suu Kyi urged Myanmar citizens to think from a wider perspective about the Myitsone project. She said the final decision would have to be politically, socially, economically and environmentally sound and sustainable. Her comment sparked concern among the people that the Myanmar government would give in to Beijing on the dam project.

In the statement, Cardinal Charles Bo urged Myanmar citizens to pray that all those trying to restart the dam project understand the will of the people and not try to resist it.

It is the second time this year the cardinal has issued a statement on the issue. In January he said the dam project must be stopped to ensure a peaceful future for the country. He also warned that construction of the dam would be a "death sentence for the people of Myanmar". However, the statement did not name any government officials or leaders.

In February, during a meeting with Kachin religious leaders, Sen-Gen. Min Aung Hlaing said it would be difficult to oppose the public's will regarding Myitsone Dam. He promised the Tatmadaw would do anything it can, but the final decision would be made by Parliament.

The post Cardinal Charles Bo Asks Myanmar, Chinese Leaders to Scrap Myitsone Dam appeared first on The Irrawaddy.

TikTok Vanishes From Google, Apple App Stores in India After Ban

Posted: 17 Apr 2019 10:06 PM PDT

NEW DELHI — The Chinese video app TikTok is no longer available in Google and Apple app stores in India after a state court prohibited its downloads, a setback for developer Bytedance Technology’s efforts to tap users in a key market.

TikTok, which allows users to create and share short videos with special effects, is hugely popular in India but some politicians say its content is inappropriate.

A court in southern Tamil Nadu State asked the federal government on April 3 to ban TikTok, saying it encouraged pornography and warning that sexual predators could target child users.

The federal government sent a letter requesting Apple and Google to abide by the state court’s order, according to an IT ministry official.

Google blocked access to TikTok in its Play store in India to comply with the court’s directive, a person with direct knowledge told Reuters on Tuesday. The app was not available in Apple’s app store on Wednesday.

Google said in a statement it does not comment on individual apps but adheres to local laws. Apple did not respond to requests for comment.

A spokesman for TikTok in India declined to comment on the app’s removal, saying the matter was still in the courts.

The company had faith in the judicial system and was “optimistic about an outcome that would be well received by” its millions of users in India, he added.

TikTok had been downloaded more than 240 million times in India, app analytics firm Sensor Tower said in February. More than 30 million users installed the app in January 2019, 12 times more than in the same month last year.

Jokes, clips and footage related to India’s thriving movie industry dominate the app’s platform, along with memes and videos in which youngsters, some scantily clad, lip-sync and dance to popular music.

Bytedance challenged the state court’s ban order in India’s Supreme Court last week, saying it went against freedom of speech rights in India.

The top court had referred the case back to the state court, where a judge on Tuesday rejected Bytedance’s request to put the ban order on hold, K. Neelamegam, a lawyer arguing against Bytedance in the case, said.

The state court has requested written submissions from Bytedance in the case and has scheduled its next hearing for April 24.

Salman Waris, a technology lawyer at TechLegis Advocates & Solicitors, said the legal action against Bytedance could set a precedent of Indian courts intervening to regulate content on social media and other digital platforms.

In its Supreme Court filing, Bytedance argued that a “very minuscule” proportion of TikTok content was considered inappropriate or obscene.

The company employs more than 250 people in India and had plans for more investment as it expands the business, it said.

The post TikTok Vanishes From Google, Apple App Stores in India After Ban appeared first on The Irrawaddy.

Malaysia Begins Inquiry Into 2015 Discovery of Mass Graves, Human Trafficking Camps

Posted: 17 Apr 2019 09:55 PM PDT

KUALA LUMPUR — Malaysia began a public inquiry on Wednesday into the discovery of mass graves and suspected human trafficking camps in the jungles near its border with Thailand, which prompted a regional crisis in 2015, and accusations over obstruction of justice.

The dense jungles of southern Thailand and northern Malaysia have been a major stop-off point for smugglers bringing people to Southeast Asia by boat from Myanmar, most of them Rohingya Muslims who say they are fleeing persecution, and Bangladesh.

In January, the government had said it would set up a panel to inquire into claims that authorities mishandled an investigation into 139 mass graves and more than 12 campsites suspected to have been run by migrant-smuggling gangs.

Three police from a jungle infantry unit described finding the first of the campsites in January 2015, during a patrol in a heavily forested region on the Malaysian side of the border.

The officials found an area filled with tents and structures made of wooden sticks, some as high as two stories, said one of them, Mat Ten.

“These makeshift houses were surrounded by barbed wire and there were people living inside,” he told the panel.

The men’s testimony confirmed media reports and rights groups’ statements that authorities had known about the camps four months before going public in May 2015.

In a report last month, the Malaysian Human Rights Commission and rights group Fortify Rights said authorities had destroyed one of the camps a day after its discovery, wiping out evidence that could have aided police investigations.

The human rights commission was set up by Malaysia’s parliament but the government is not bound by its findings.

Mat Ten said he returned with a team of 10 police to survey the site the day after the first visit, but they were interrupted after a woman they believed to be acting as a lookout alerted others at the camp, who fled.

Six Rohingya and Bangladeshi migrants who were left behind were detained and handed over to immigration authorities, said Mohamad Mossadique Azni, the officer who led the raiding team.

The discovery of similar camps and graves on the Thai side of the border triggered a regional crisis in 2015.

A Thai crackdown on the camps prompted traffickers to abandon thousands of migrants in overloaded boats in the Bay of Bengal and Andaman Sea.

The hearings continue on Thursday.

The post Malaysia Begins Inquiry Into 2015 Discovery of Mass Graves, Human Trafficking Camps appeared first on The Irrawaddy.

Jokowi 2.0 Could Open Indonesia’s Door to Foreign Investors

Posted: 17 Apr 2019 09:40 PM PDT

JAKARTA — Foreign investors desperate for more access to Indonesia’s huge market can take comfort from the re-election of Joko Widodo as president for a second and final term on Wednesday: according to government insiders he is poised for a splurge of reform.

On the list of areas he might tackle is sagging foreign investment, the troubled education system and restrictive labor rules.

“If the president’s victory ranges from 52-55 percent that would be the sweet spot,” said a senior government official who works closely with Widodo. “That would spur him to continue and maybe even accelerate economic reforms.”

Widodo — popularly known as Jokowi — looked set to hit that “sweet spot” as early election results came in, showing he was set to win the popular vote and come at least eight percentage points ahead of challenger Prabowo Subianto, who investors feared would be a champion of economic nationalism.

Unofficial counts also suggest Widodo’s coalition will increase its hold on the national legislature.

Still, some analysts doubt that Widodo will move much beyond the cautious reform agenda of his first five-year term.

That’s partly because of his own plodding style, but also because conservative Muslims and nativists will remain a potent political force that is hostile to foreign capital, especially from China.

While the contest between Widodo and his challenger, former special forces general Prabowo, was characterized by nationalist posturing on both sides, government officials and advisers say Widodo recognizes the need for more foreign investment to boost growth and raise productivity in Southeast Asia’s largest economy.

Citing internal government discussions, Mohamad Ikhsan, an economic adviser to outgoing Vice-President Jusuf Kalla, said Widodo was told that economic growth would likely slip below 5 percent without a more liberal approach to foreign investment.

“The president understands this very well. He also understands that it’s not only capital that must be injected, foreign capital … we need to upgrade our human resources,” Ikhsan said.

“He promised that will be in the second term.”

That assessment was backed by the senior government official, who said a big part of Jokowi’s second-term reform drive would be opening education — and particularly universities — to foreign players and making the sector a business. He declined to be identified to speak openly about policy plans.

Legacy

Some analysts suggested that Widodo’s margin of victory in the election, which looks likely to be less than his campaign had hoped for, might be a brake on reformist plans. His predecessor, Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono, took 61 percent of the vote when he won a second term and is widely thought to have squandered that chance to address systemic flaws in the economy.

“We expect Jokowi’s victory, especially as it was not emphatic, to only result in modest economic reform,” said Peter Mumford of the Eurasia Group, a risk consultancy. “(It) will be insufficient to break him free of the constraints of coalition partners and vested interests — elite political, military, religious and state-owned enterprise leaders.”

Australian National University analyst Greg Fealy said Widodo was committed to leaving his mark.

“He’s determined to make the biggest impact on national life that he can. He wants more development. He wants more infrastructure. He wants greater prosperity. He wants that legacy.”

Fealy said Indonesia’s recently negotiated free trade deal with Australia, which includes zero-tariff access on many goods and services and provisions for Australian universities to set up campuses in Indonesia, reflected the free market instincts of Widodo, a former furniture entrepreneur and big exporter.

The first president from outside Indonesia’s political, business and military elites, Widodo prioritized infrastructure development in his first term, building roads, railways, ports and airports across the archipelago of thousands of islands.

His building program has gone some way to address a major deficiency in the Indonesian economy, where logistics costs make many of its exports uncompetitive.

Ikhsan said more foreign capital would be needed to continue the program, and budget-sapping subsidies of petrol and food staples would have to be trimmed.

Human resources

In his final campaign speech at Jakarta’s main stadium, Widodo said the next five years would bring a focus on developing “quality human resources.”

Indonesia’s education system has long been identified as substandard and a drag on development. Although 20 percent of the government budget is allocated to education, international surveys show math, reading and science skills among secondary students badly lag those of the country’s neighbors.

Business leaders say poor schooling and a weak tertiary education sector also deter investment, as do the country’s restrictive labor laws.

According to the senior government official, labor market reform “is something the president is very passionate about.”

“It’s very difficult to terminate or lay off people, therefore people are reluctant to hire. It’s pushed employment dramatically towards informal employment.”

Even so, “it would be the mother of all dogfights in parliament” to get labor reforms passed, he said.

Education reforms are no fait accompli either.

Many academics, nationalists and some Islamic bodies are opposed to liberalizing the university sector and bristle at suggestions that a modern curriculum might be imposed on pesantrens, the network of religious schools.

The post Jokowi 2.0 Could Open Indonesia's Door to Foreign Investors appeared first on The Irrawaddy.
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