Jakarta. Indonesia’s private sector believes that President Prabowo Subianto has done a pretty good job so far in his first 100 days, but businesses are hoping that the government will involve businesses in the policymaking process in the future.

Shinta Kamdani, the chairwoman of the Indonesian Employers Association (Apindo), said Tuesday that Prabowo had been “consistent” in delivering his campaign promises. This includes kickstarting the ambitious free meal program that would eventually feed nearly 83 million children and expectant mothers. Shinta, however, looked back on when Prabowo announced the 6.5 percent provincial minimum wage hike for 2025 in late November, something that caught businesses off guard.

“At the end of the day, it is up to the government to impose a policy or not. But it’d be better for them to consult with businesses first before rolling out the policy. Not consulting with the private sector will only create a mixed signal on why they decide to come up with such a policy. Businesses would have been better prepared if they had asked for our input,” Shinta said on Investor Daily Talk.

“It was sad to see that the government did not engage in intensive consultation with the private sector for the minimum wage hike,” Shinta remarked.

A Constitutional Court ruling has scrapped a minimum wage regulation that was a derivative rule to the Job Creation Law. The annulled regulation became the legal basis for the populous Indonesia to calculate minimum wages based on inflation, economic growth, as well as the workforce's contribution to the province's economy. Shinta claimed that the private sector had given some feedback to the Manpower Ministry on the wage scheme, but their recommendations were ignored.  

“Somehow the government or the president in particular could not concretely accept our feedback. fter Prabowo met with labor unions, he immediately announced a provincial minimum wage increase that was not based on a certain formula. This raises a big question mark on [Indonesia’s] business certainty,” Shinta said.

She added: “We understand that the hike is to provide the workers a safety net, but we already took this variable into account in the initial [minimum wage calculation] formula.” 

Prabowo assumed power in October. He is known for his goal of wanting to achieve 8 percent economic growth within his presidential term. However, government estimates show that Indonesia will need approximately Rp 13,528 trillion or around $900 billion in investments until 2029 for his 8-percent growth dream. A survey by Litbang Kompas revealed that the Prabowo government got an 80.9 percent approval rating for their 100-day-in-office scorecard. Shinta attributed the high approval rating to Prabowo’s populist policies.

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