Kadin Welcomes Jakarta's New Governor
Jakarta. The Indonesian Chambers of Commerce and Industry, or Kadin, has welcomed Jakarta's new leaders, optimistic that the capital city will continue to go forward in a good direction after a tiring and divisive election campaign that stoked religious tensions.
Former education minister Anies Baswedan and his running mate businessman Sandiaga Uno — who is a Kadin member — took a big lead in Wednesday's (19/04) gubernatorial election on a quick sample count of over half of the vote by Indikator Politik.
"Hopefully, the developments in Jakarta will be improved," Kadin chairman told the Jakarta Globe. Deputy chairman of Kadin Jakarta office Sarman Simanjorang said Anies and Sandiaga can complete each other in leading the city where most of the business activities happen.
Sarman said Anies can focus on improving manpower quality in Jakarta, while Sandi can focus on both the economic and the infrastructure sectors.
"We hope business and trade activities post-election will be normal," he said. "With the election's result, we believe business prospects will be better and investors will enter and put their capital in Jakarta," he said.
Sarman added that he expects the new governor to improve the process of issuing permits in Jakarta by introducing a better IT system.
During his campaign, Anies promised mortgages without down payment, which turned out to be a saving program to pay it.
The pair also promised integrated public transport, which will be free of charge for the city's poor, teachers, public service officers and students. TransJakarta fare, however, will increase to Rp 5,000 (40 US cents) per trip from the current Rp 3,500.
They also seek to introduce the so-called OK OCE — or One Kecamatan One Center for Entrepreneurship — a program with an aim to create 200,000 new entrepreneurs in five years.
Additional reporting by Reuters.
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