On 22nd September 2016, leading higher education institution Universitas Prasetiya Mulya hosted a seminar on Indonesia’s readiness in joining the Trans-Pacific Partnership (TPP) which was held at its Cilandak campus in South Jakarta. The seminar aimed to highlight the main challenges facing Indonesia’s economic competitiveness through the development of intellectual property (IPR) protection laws in light of the country’s potential membership in the TPP.
Prominent attendees at the event included Director of Creative Economy Agency, Dr Robinson Sinaga and Head of the Department of Economics at the Centre for Strategic and International Studies, Dr Yose Rizal Damuri, who provided their insights into the importance of protecting Indonesia's intangible and non-physical goods in sectors such as music, mobile applications, culinary, fashion and handcrafts. Currently, only a small number of creative industry players in Indonesia have registered their innovative products and ideas as patents, copyrights or trademarks, illustrating the lack of knowledge about IPR which can become an obstacle for the country’s businesses within the TPP community.
Furthermore, Indonesia’s high import duties host the potential to reduce the country’s trade competitiveness amongst its ASEAN peers such as Vietnam. As such, the country needs to advance its industries and improve its regulations so as to develop a more investment-friendly business climate. These challenges highlighted at the seminar demonstrates Universitas Prasetiya Mulya’s forward-thinking approach to equipping its students with knowledge on regional developments and its impact on Indonesian businesses.