CREATING
ENTREPRENEURSHIP SOCIETY AS A WAY TO FACE AEC AND WTO
(Image is from Google)
Globalization
has many impacts to all countries in the world. One of them is economic impact.
Moreover, Indonesia includes ASEAN community. According to Prof. Hermanto,
there are three aspects in AEC (ASEAN Economic
Community, ASEAN political Security Community, and ASEAN Socio-Culture
Community). Therefore, It can
also bring the influence of economy. It is not only AEC which can bring
economic impact to Indonesia but World Trade Organization or WTO can also
become an opportunity and challenge to all countries in the world including
Indonesia. There are some strategic ways to face AEC and WTO, one of them is by creating entrepreneurship society by using
e-commerce technology and promoting nation branding.
In
Indonesia, there are many small businessmen who are afraid in facing AEC and
WTO. In the beginning they just have to face another business in the same
location or region. It means that their competitors are almost similar to them.
Now, they have to face many competitors who are from different countries. Unfortunately,
Indonesia only focuses on resource-based and primary product rather than medium
and high tech product. Hence, it can cause price change easily. There are some
things that cause AEC, for example the advancement of trade and regionalism in
ASEAN community. According to regionalism approach, regionalism is the
improvement of trade in a certain region. AEC wants to decrease the gap of the
economic development andeconomic improvement among the ASEAN countries. That is
why not only countries which have strong economy like China, Japan, India, and
Koreabut also all members of ASEAN will work together in economic side.
In addition, World Trade organization or
WTO which has bigger economic impact than AEC is an international organization
that focuses on global trade. It was founded in 1995. The WTO was born out of
the GATT (General Agreement on Tariffs and Trade which was established in 1947.
GATT began at the end of World War II. The aim was to reduce the tariffs for
the facilitation of global trade on goods. The WTO replaced GATT as the world's
global trading body in 1995. It is recognized as the only international
organization that deals with the global rules of trade between nation. It acts
as judge in trade disputes among countries. It also creates and embodies the
legal ground rules for global trade among members nation. The aim of the WTO is
to create economic peace and stability in the world by means of a multilateral
system. In 1990, Robert Keohane defined multilateralism as "the practice
of coordinating national policies in groups of three or more states".
Indonesia has been one of members of
ASEAN since 1967 and one of members of WTO since 1995. Moreover, the system of
economy in Indonesia is open. Therefore, Indonesia is so hard to avoid the
dynamics of economy in the world.However, by creating entrepreneurship society
is the best way to face the impact of AEC and WTO. Entrepreneurship society
means that Indonesian people have to change their mindset as employees become
entrepreneurs so that there will be many new entrepreneurs who can create their
own workplace and fulfill society's needs independently without depending on
the other countries. There are two strategic ways in creating entrepreneurship
society. First is by using e-commerce technology and second is by promoting
nation branding.
E-commerce can be one of significant
solutions to face AEC and WTO. According to Laudon & Laudon (1998),
e-commerce or electronic commerce is a dynamic set of technologies,
applications, and business process that links enterprises, consumers, and
communities through electronics transactions and the electronic exchange of goods,
services, and information.There are many advantages of e-commerce that can be
maximized by Indonesian people, for example establishing an online presence,
attracting new global customers, saving an operational cost, better
understanding to the customers, boosting brand awareness, equipping customers
with information, and driving conversions and sales. Indonesian businessmen
have to improve their ability in running their business, for instance they can
improve their creativity in the products so that their products become the only
ones product which will be needed by the customers even though there are many
products from the other countries.Indonesia will get many challenges about new
products which have good quality which are from the other countries because of
free market. However, that condition will become an opportunity for Indonesia
to market the products to the world.
There are still many problems if
Indonesia runs e-commerce as one of solutions in facing AEC and WTO but there
are some tips as well how to cope those problems. E-commerce uses internet
connection in every transactions and Indonesia still has limited internet
connection, for example only big cities, Jakarta, Yogyakarta,
Bandung, and Surabaya,
which have good internet connection rather than remote regions such as Papua
and NTT which have limited internet connection. The only solution is the
government should give fund to improve internet connection so that all
Indonesian people can use internet easily. Besides that, the government should
socialize the importance of using internet in e-commerce to all Indonesian people.
Another problem is some Indonesian
people still interest to use the products or services from the other countries
because they still do not believe in local market. The solution is the
government must have regulation to regulate about financial that can help local
market to improve their products or services. Besides that, the government must
regulate about thesecurity ofonline transactionsso that Indonesiapeople will
not be doubtful again if they want tosell something through online.So, it has
been clear that e-commerce can be one of solutions to face AEC and WTO although
there still have many problems in running e-commerce, it can run well if the
government pay attention on that matters.
Second significant solution to face AEC
and WTO is by promoting nation branding. Some Indonesian people interest very
much to all products or services that are made from the other countries because
the products or services offer better quality and cheaper price than local
products. Moreover, some countries in the world still do not know about
Indonesia. Therefore, nation branding is needed to promote products or services
to Indonesian people and to the world. If it is not done, many businesses in
Indonesia will be bankrupt and it will influence economy in Indonesia.
Nation branding is a part of creativity
to develop economy and it includes in presidential directive in 2009 number 6.
It talks about economic development. Nation branding covers all things such as
fashion, accessory, entertainment, tourism, etc. There are fourth strategies to
promote nation branding. First, Indonesia people must choose some special
products or services that are seldom found in the other countries. Second, they
must know about the power of public relation. The power of public relation means
all businesses in Indonesia stick together to face AEC and WTO, for example if
they have similar business, they can share the information to find the solution
and to get more customers from all over the world. Third, they work together
with the government to regulate importing and exporting all products or
services. The core of nation branding is all Indonesian products or services
will be popular not only in Indonesia but also in the world because all
businesses including small business promote Indonesian special things without
trying to change the identity of Indonesia to get the customers from all over
the the world.
In brief, ASEAN Economic Community (AEC)
and World Trade Organization (WTO) can be obstacles and challenges for
Indonesia if Indonesia does not know the ways to handle it. However, it can be
an opportunity for Indonesia so that Indonesian can offer the products or
services not only in Indonesia but also in the world. The ways to handle it are
by using e-commerce technology and promoting nation branding. Although there
are some difficulties in running those, there are still solutions which can be
done by businessmen and the government so that Indonesia is ready to face AEC
and WTO.
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