REPUBLIKA.CO.ID, JAKARTA - Indonesia is expecting economic growth of 6.8 percent next year, but it will be difficult to reach the target because labour issues have not been resolved by the government, said an economist.

"Labour issues will hinder the government`s efforts to reach the target of 6.8 percent. That is why the government should handle the labour problems immediately," said Latif Adam, an economist from the Indonesian Institute of Science (LIPI), on Friday. 

According to him, companies that are severely affected by labour strikes are those that export their products to meet the demand of the international market.

"It is possible that the international market has a bad impression of local companies with regard to compliance issues, since they are not able to meet the demand," he pointed out. "It is certainly related to the fact that the government has yet to resolve the labour issues," he added.

Adam also said that the labour issue was a recurring problem which surfaces once every two years, just before the Regional Minimum Wage (UMP) was announced.

Therefore, he urged the government to solve the problem by formulating a policy that would meet the requirements of workers and businesses. 

"The government should give importance to the problems that are within the country, instead of focusing on political interests," he expressed. According to Adam, the labour problem will be solved in 2013, but it will surface again in 2014, after the elections.

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