JAKARTA (Reuters) – Indonesia will start reviewing a wide range of economic policies as it seeks to become the first Southeast Asian member of Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development (OECD), a senior minister said on Wednesday.
Indonesia has set a target to become an OECD member within three years, after the Paris-based group opened accession discussions with Indonesia in February.
Jakarta hopes such membership will bring more investment and trade deals for Southeast Asia’s largest economy.
OECD, which has more than 30 member nations, is an international organisation that advises its members on public policy including from social, economic and environmental issues.
Indonesian authorities will review policies with more than two dozen areas of focus, including taxation, digital economy and anti-corruption regulations, to make sure they align with OECD standards, the country’s chief economic minister Airlangga Hartarto said in a press conference at a workshop to launch the accession process.
Speaking alongside Airlangga at the launch, OECD Secretary General Mathias Cormann pledged to support Indonesia’s efforts to expedite the accession process, though he said the country’s self-set time table was ambitious.
“Let’s go as fast as possible but let’s also take the time necessary to ensure the reforms that are being pursued as part of this process have the necessary public support and can be sustainable over time and can generally deliver all the benefits we want to achieve for the people of Indonesia,” Cormann said.
This week, Cormann met with outgoing President Joko Widodo and president-elect Prabowo Subianto, who will succeed Widodo in October.
(Reporting by Stefanno Sulaiman; Editing by Gayatri Suroyo and Gerry Doyle)
