President Joko “Jokowi” Widodo’s administration submitted the omnibus bill on job creation on Feb. 12 to the House in Indonesia. They are expecting deliberations to be concluded within 100 working days and are hoping to attract more investment to help boost the country’s flagging economic growth rate.

The government is optimistic about the omnibus bill and believes that it will bolster investment and open up more jobs for Indonesians, as it eases many regulations.

Coordinating Economic Minister Airlangga Hartarto shared that they are targeting 3 million new jobs in the manufacturing sector, start-up companies and part-time workers. Currently, Indonesia adds around 2 million jobs per year. However, with the young and growing population, this number is not sufficient to keep up with high school and university graduates entering the labor market. The country needs more opportunities for businesses to grow and create jobs.

“To reach the [economic] growth target of 6 percent, we need faster decision-making, a faster licensing process and to ease the doing of business for small and medium businesses,” said Airlangga.

With the omnibus bill Airlangga believes financial access would open up for small and medium businesses (SMEs). It could also relax regulations to allow SMEs to become formal companies. “This will change the informal sector into a formal one.”

While the government is positive about the bill, there have been mixed reactions and opinions regarding it around the country. Not the entire population is looking at it with the same perspective.

As Center of Reform on Economics (CORE) Indonesia research director Piter Abdullah shared with The Post, he is of the opinion that the misnomers we are seeing right now are being caused by a lack of communication between the government and related stakeholders, such as investors and labor unions.

Although there is no denying that Indonesia needs a breakthrough to improve its economy and protect itself from the consequences of coronavirus outbreak on it, the government has to be extremely careful about introducing a new bill. As shared by CORE's Research Director, the omnibus legislation should be drafted carefully and not be rushed.