Refleksi: Dalam pertanding tinju, kalau kedua petinju sama kelasnya, tentu tidak begitu besar problem. Sebab ditangung sama-sama kuat. Tetapi kalau kelas berat lawan kelas bulu kambing, pasti managernya sinting. Sebab hasil pertandingan demikian sudah dari mula diketahui hasilnya. Siapa menang, siapa kalah. Begitu pula keadaannya dalam dunia perdagangan bebas. Tetapi, siapa tahu, mungkin doktor ekonomi kita mempunyai konsep teori baru yang sangat mujarab bagi negeri yang keadaan ekonominya seperti kerajaan Pacistan.
no, no, no, http://thejakartaglobe.com/home/industries-sound-alarm-over-china-indonesia-free-trade-deal/342302 November 18, 2009 Muhamad Al Azhari, Dian Ariffahmi & Irvan Tisnabudi Industries Sound Alarm Over China-Indonesia Free-Trade Deal Some key industry players are warning of a doomsday scenario for domestic businesses under a forthcoming regional free-trade agreement with China, saying it will cause substantial losses for Indonesian manufacturers and bury the country's steel sector. Speaking at what turned into a rowdy seminar on Tuesday to discuss the Association of Southeast Asian Nations free-trade deal with China, Purwono Widodo, executive committee member of the Indonesian Iron and Steel Industry Association, said eliminating import duties on Chinese goods was "a blessing for China to practice market colonialism in Indonesia." "China's products are well known for being cheap, and it is the toughest competitor in Indonesia," Purwono said. "Our domestic steel industry could be put out of business should the [agreement] be implemented." China signed the free-trade pact with the 10 members of Asean, including Indonesia, in November 2002, with broader terms of the agreement set to go into affect in 2010. Under the deal, the signatories agreed to scrap import taxes early next year on manufactured goods such as steel, textiles and footwear. Tariffs in other sectors, such as food and beverages and electronic goods, will be gradually reduced beginning on Jan. 1 until they are eliminated in 2018. Ernovian Ismy, secretary general of the Indonesian Textile Association, said the nation had already suffered heavy trade deficits in recent years in textiles and garments and the worst was yet to come. Citing data from the Central Statistics Agency (BPS), he said Indonesian textile and garment exports to China were $175 million in 2008, while imports were $1.03 billion, leaving Indonesia with an $860 million trade deficit in the sector. "What can we do? They are giant producers. That figure does not include illegal garment products that have been flooding into our country," Ernovian said. "The [Indonesian] government must realize that we are a market for [Chinese] products." Economist Faisal Basri said during the seminar that Indonesia's manufacturers, which have experienced slow growth recently, would be put in jeopardy by free trade with China, and would also have trouble attracting foreign investment. "When import duties are scrapped, then foreign firms will prefer to directly sell their products here rather than invest in the country," Faisal said. He added that the manufacturing sector was struggling from the fallout of the global economic downturn, as well as from traditional problems such as high bank lending rates, low-quality human resources, high dependency on imported raw materials and poor technology. He said Indonesia posted a trade deficit of $3.6 billion with China in 2008. Responding to the concerns, I Gusti Putu Suryawirawan, director for metal industries at the Ministry of Industry, said potential losses would be mitigated by insuring that local products, including textiles and steel, were used by state-owned enterprises. "There's been a presidential instruction regarding this matter," Gusti said. [Non-text portions of this message have been removed]
