JAKARTA
-- Indonesian President Joko Widodo has signaled a softening of his
government's increasingly stringent visa requirements for foreigners working in
the country in an apparent response to strong concerns raised by overseas
businesses.
Widodo told the
cabinet on Aug. 20 that the government would drop earlier plans to require
foreign workers to learn the Indonesian language and apply for temporary stay
permits of up to a year, known by their local acronym, Kitas.
The president's
statement, relayed by Cabinet Secretary Pramono Agung, came six weeks after the
Ministry of Manpower and Transmigration introduced new rules requiring all companies
to hire 10 Indonesians for every foreign employee. It also set rigid conditions
on visa requirements for foreign workers visiting the country, even for one-off
business meetings.
Despite his latest
directive to overturn the earlier proposals for language and Kitas visa
requirements, Widodo did not comment on whether the ministry's new hiring rules
would be abolished or whether another visa or permit system would be introduced
to replace Kitas.
How the presidential
directive will be implemented also remains unclear after Widodo recently
complained about ministries and officials ignoring various government policy
changes. SIMON ROUGHNEEN, Asian regional correspondent
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