Handling of Corruption Affects Economic Growth: President

Jakarta, June 19 (Antara) -- Efforts to prevent and eradicate corruption could have positive impacts on national economic growth, President Joko Widodo said here on Friday. In view of that, Teten Masduki, a member of the president's communications team, noted in a press statement: "President Joko Widodo has, once again, reiterated his commitment to fight corruption. A clean government will contribute positively to economic conditions in the country." During a limited cabinet meeting held in his office on Friday afternoon to discuss ways to tackle corruption, Jokowi stated that one of the government's commitments in its efforts to do away with corruption was reflected in the issuance of a presidential instruction on corruption eradication. According to Masduki, the head of state has issued Presidential Instruction Number 7, 2015, on Corruption Eradication and Prevention. In addition, he has urged the public to not believe that the government wishes to weaken the Corruption Eradication Commission (KPK) by wanting to revise the KPK Law. The government is of the view that law enforcement agencies such as the police, the prosecutor's office and the anti-graft agency must be strengthened, he added. At the meeting, Jokowi pointed out that prevention was not less important than enforcement and that it can be done by building a good system, limiting contacts through the use of information technology that offers high accountability. This can be in the form of e-budgeting, e-procurement, e-cataloguing, e-purchasing and online taxation systems. "They will all be able to strengthen the government's supervision and accountability and will reduce corruption significantly at both central and regional levels," the president affirmed at the meeting. Stating that the situation was not good yet, he said that during his inspection of Jakarta's Tanjung Priok Port on Wednesday, he saw no change there. Despite having ordered for the settlement of red tape and illegal levies at the port to reduce dwelling time four months ago, no change has been made and as a result, there have been no improvements either, he remarked. This means that the quality of law enforcement has yet to improve. The bureaucratic chain is still long, while the quality of services is still low and investors' perception continues to be bad. Although an integrated one-stop service has been established, the system is not fast enough or is inadequate, the president observed. With regard to this situation, Jokowi has called for the simplification of bureaucratic procedures, which is the responsibility of the minister of administrative reforms and the head of the BPKP (Finance and Development Audit Board). He further noted that ministries and state institutions could adopt the systems used in private and state-owned enterprises to ensure the simplification of procedures. Moreover, President Joko Widodo has ordered the finance minister to prepare a system of cash management posthaste so it can be checked regularly to ensure transparency. For this purpose, he stated that he agreed with the PPATK (Financial Transactions Analysis and Reporting Center) on limiting the use of cash money.