Mari Pangestu

The Evolution of Competition Policy in Indonesia

This paper assesses the evolution of the new Indonesian competition law passed in 1999, and the creation of the Competition Commission. The first half of the paper traces the debate and process of deregulation and liberalization that preceded the introduction of the law. Whilst deregulation did lead to increased competition and efficiency, distortions to competition in the goods sector still persisted due to ad hoc and non transparent measures taken due to government interventions and vested interests. The services and infrastructure sectors were only partially liberalized. The second half of the paper evaluates the debate on competition law and assesses its introduction and implementation. In the brief period of implementation to date, the tension between a pro-competition and an anti-bigness interpretation of the Law is evident. The paper concludes that ambiguities in the law should be eliminated, that the competition agency focuses on advocacy and introducing transparent procedures rather than hastening towards concluding investigations, and that competition issues faced by independent regulatory agencies in the services and infrastructure sectors should be introduced carefully.

Developing Countries and the Next Round of WTO Negotiations

This article summarizes some of the results and findings emerging from an ongoing World Bank research and capacity-building project that focuses on the World Trade Organization (WTO) negotiating agenda from a developing country perspective. Recent research suggests that the potential gains from further multilateral liberalization of trade remain very large. The payoffs associated with attempts to introduce substantive disciplines in the WTO on domestic regulatory regimes are much less certain. This suggests that the focus of current and future negotiations should be primarily on the bread and butter of the multilateral trading system--the progressive liberalization of barriers to trade in goods and services on a nondiscriminatory basis. In addition, priority should be given to ensuring that rules are consistent with the development needs of poorer countries and to helping developing countries implement WTO obligations. Copyright 2002, Oxford University Press. (This abstract was borrowed from another version of this item.)

Structural changes in a reforming world economy: implications for Indonesia

How will rapid East Asian industrialisation and international trade policy reforms affect Indonesias economy? Taking an economy-wide perspective and drawing on projections to 2005, based on a global applied general equilibrium model (GTAP), we show the impact of Uruguay Round implementation, and explore other international influences on Indonesias and neighbouring economies. Trade reforms likely to accompany Chinas (and Taiwans) membership of the WTO are projected to boost the competitiveness of Indonesias primary sectors at the expense of light manufacturing and the overall economy, while failure by OECD countries to honour Uruguay Round obligations to open their textile and clothing markets would reduce industrialisation in the region, slowing growth in its net food imports. The benefits to Indonesia of APEC liberalisations are also reported. All projections were completed in 1997 before the enormity of the financial crisis became clear; follow-on research should quantify the growth slowdowns impact on these results.

Options for Global Trade Reform: A View from the Asia-Pacific

List of figures List of tables List of abbreviations and acronyms List of contributors 1. An overview: options for global trade reform - a view from the Asia-Pacific Will Martin and Mari Pangestu 2. Agriculture and the Doha Development Agenda Kym Anderson, Erwidodo, Tubagus Feridhanusetyawan and Anna Strutt 3. Liberalizing trade in manufactures Florian A. Alburo 4. Returning textiles and clothing to GATT disciplines Nattapong Thongpakde and Wisarn Pupphavesa 5. Approaches to further liberalization of trade in services Patrick Low and Aaditya Mattoo 6. Liberalization of air transport services Christopher Findlay and Deunden Nikomborirak 7. Liberalization of maritime transport services Chia Lin Sien, Lloyd C. Onyirimba and George S. Akpan 8. International trade in telecoms services Ma. Joy V. Abrenica and Tony Warren 9. East Asia and options for negotiations on investment Bijit Bora, Chia Siow Yue, Nick Freeman and Shujiro Urata 10. Competition policy, developing countries, and the World Trade Organization Kerrin M. Vautier, Peter Lloyd and Ing-Wen Tsai 11. The long and winding road to the Government Procurement Agreement: Koreas accession experience Inbom Choi 12. Trade facilitation in the World Trade Organization: Singapore to Doha and beyond Yuen Pau Woo 13. Trade, the environment and labour: text, institutions and context Simon S. C. Tay Index.

Managing Indonesia's Debt

This paper investigates how Indonesia should manage its massive debt burden arising from the Asian financial crisis, which led to increased external debt and, more significantly, increased domestic debt related to the countrys bank restructuring program. Indonesias enormous outstanding debt puts pressure on the balance of payments, causes severe budget constraints, and creates a huge future debt burden that brings with it the risks of illiquidity and default. The following measures are recommended for an effective debt management program: encourage rapid growth and ensure macroeconomic stability; minimize future contingent liability; increase domestic revenues by broadening the tax base and intensifying tax collection; seek better Paris Club rescheduling terms, obtain more concessional terms for new borrowing, and explore debt swaps; develop and regulate the government bond market; create a well-managed coordinated unit for debt management; and create the necessary legal foundations to protect investors.

Options for Global Trade Reform: An overview: options for global trade reform – a view from the Asia-Pacific

Prior to the successful Doha Ministerial in November 2001, the AsiaPacific had played host to three of the most influential meetings on international trade and investment cooperation in the 1990s – the APEC Leaders’ meeting in Bogor in 1994; the Singapore Ministerial meeting of the World Trade Organization (WTO) in 1996; and the WTO Ministerial meeting at Seattle in November 1999. The first of these, the APEC Leaders’ meeting at Bogor in 1994, set the extremely ambitious goal of free and open trade and investment in the Asia-Pacific by 2020. The second, the initial Ministerial meeting of the newWTO, built on the ambitions of the Uruguay Round and added investment and competition policy, trade facilitation, and transparency in government procurement to the agenda. The third of these meetings, proved to be important in an entirely different way, and was unable to adopt even an agenda for further discussions. Only after a long period of hard work and preparation could agreement on a Doha Development Agenda be reached in November 2001 (WTO 2001a). The failure of the Seattle Ministerial involved a number of elements, the most important of which related to poor preparation, the breadth of the agenda, and the approaches to be adopted in particular areas (Schott 2000). Inside the meeting, a key source of discord and dismay was the traditional divide on agriculture, between the group of industrial countries that protect their agricultural sectors, and the agricultural exporters – both developed and developing. A number of other sources of tension within the meeting were development-related. These included the slow phase-out of the quotas imposed by the industrial countries against developing-country exports of textiles and clothing, and the

APEC Leadership in Liberalization: An Untested Experiment

The year 1996 is an important year in trade policy history as it marks the beginnings of two key institutions which will lead us on the road towards an open and rules-based trading system. In November 1996, cynics and optimists alike await the announcement of the action plans for trade liberalization and facilitation by economies from the Asia Pacific Economic Co-operation (APEC) group. The action plans will provide the first glimpse of the track towards the long-term goals set out by APEC’s Bogor Declaration in 1994: to achieve free and open trade and investment in the region no later than 2010 for industrialized economies, and 2020 for developing economies. Meanwhile, at the end of the year, ministers from members of the World Trade Organization (WTO) meet for the first time since it was set up in early 1995. The agenda calls for evaluation of the implementation of Uruguay Round commitments, and discussion of unfinished business such as negotiation on services.