By: Iman Sjahputra

The prosperity of a nation is very much influenced by the rolling of its economic wheel. The expectation of the economic wheel is no other than the economic growth which has the positive effect for the prosperity in life. The problem is what should be the motor to activate the economic wheels? Moreover when market for various goods and services lie widely in this globalization era. In the other hand, the world is becoming narrower as the effect of the rapidity of the development and progress of information technology which like it or not is forcing every country to follow the trading trend of free market pattern. So with such condition, in the context of Indonesia, what should be the motor of its economic wheel? In the old days, we used to be proud by the overwhelming richness of the natural resources. But in fact it has been more than six decades after Indonesian’s Independence but it still being shadowed by the poverty of its people. Its economic foundation is fragile. The real sector is stalled. The investment is low, since many investors moved overseas. What happened is we are only exporting raw materials with cheap prices because of the exploration and exploitation of the natural resources that cannot be managed alone. Indonesia is still behind in the technological aspect. Incase the natural resources cannot be used as the motor again then what shall be the economic motor to be able to compete in the world level in the globalization era? What the government and the local businessman have to do to be able to compete in the global market which is widely open? The world now is borderless. The development of information technology (internet) is an evidence. Territorial and jurisdiction border is being passed. Various goods and services can be accessed within seconds. People who want to shop or sell a product does not have to go to the market. The internet is able to be the media. Surely the presence of internet is very helpful for the businessman and the consumers to communicate. Just by sending an email, a transaction can be done. The next process is the delivery of goods and the payment. Therefore it is not a surprise if the international businessmen are looking for orders everywhere. Physically, a person does not have to go anywhere, he just sits in front of his computer & browse, and he will surely get a product that he wants. This is the real condition of a global market. Back to the previous question, what could be the motor for our economic wheel? The answers are creativity and innovation. So we are not depending on the natural resources as a growth motor. The sources of the development of a nation which are eternal are creativity and innovation of the human resources. Aside from that competitiveness should be how about our innovations? From the product aspect as in the data released by the Department of Trade, up until the end of 2009, there are 180 local trademarks which are know globally. The question is can the local trademarks compete in the global market? So that the goods which are “made in Indonesia” able to enter the world market. If the competitiveness is good, then surely we can become a champion in the national level and will be all over in the international level. The chances side is surely wide open. The internet media has smoothens all transactions. Therefore the flood of products from one country to another country happened so fast and in a very short time. A product which is a new invention from one country within a short time it has been circulated in another countries. The new invention from USA, such as iPhone, iPad, only within a week it is able to be purchased in Hong Kong and Singapore. What an easy flow of the goods and information these days. As a businessman, of course we have to be thankful since we do not have to think about promotion. It is so easy for our product and services to “go international”. Have a look at the international businessman who sells his product all over the world. In a restaurant and café business, so many creations and foreign invasions which enter Indonesia. For examples: McDonald’s and Starbucks have ruled over the Indonesian market. Who does not know the McDonald’s hamburger and who does not know the Starbucks café latte. All there business has become international trademark which are very respected. Of course we are very surprised to hear about the profit of McDonald’s which is about US$ 45 million per year. Isn’t the fantastic profit actually only from selling hamburgers and fried potatoes? It is clear that it is not that easy to get the franchise right from McDonald’s. The requirements and conditions are very strict in keeping its quality. That is what they called the very strong competition strength. In Indonesia it is now being flooded by foreign franchising. From 1.010 franchising company in Indonesia, 260 companies belong to foreigners. In some level we are very proud of the rest that local companies. We can see that there are many local franchising companies in Indonesia which sell its goods. For the food restaurants it is known: Wong Solo, Sapo Oriental, Hip Hop, Red Crispy, Papa Rons, Model mini market: there are Indomaret, Yomart and Alfamart. For the education we know there are Widyaloka and Binus. For Distributions of computer facilities: Warnet/Net Café, Net ezy, Kantor Solusi JSI etc. All of the companies promised a profitable franchising business. But when does there local company “go international”? For sure the engines of the economic wheel are not only the natural resources, but also the human resources who are creative and innovative, because creative human resources are a source for continuous development. If the human resources already have innovation and strong competitiveness then it is not impossible that trademarks which belong to Indonesian businessmen could have an international standard. And we could be a champion in our own cage and also a champion overseas.

* Senior advocate domiciled in Jakarta