INDONESIA AND MCC COMPACT ELIGIBILITY

UNCLAS SECTION 01 OF 03 JAKARTA 012687 SIPDIS SENSITIVE SIPDIS DEPT FOR EAP DAS JOHN AND EB/IFD DAS DIBBLE AID FOR ANE/AA-KUNDER TREASURY FOR IA-BAUKOL DEPT PASS USTR FOR WEISEL AND KATZ E.O. 12958: N/A TAGS: EINV ECON KMCA KCOR ID SUBJECT: INDONESIA AND MCC COMPACT ELIGIBILITY Ref: A) Jakarta 12254 (Anti-Corruption Update) B) 05 Jakarta 13647 (Indonesia and MCC) C) Jakarta 5420 (Tax, Customs Chiefs Fired) D) Jakarta 11379 (2007 Budget) ¶1. (SBU) Summary. President Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono's (SBY) administration has made important progress in the past year implementing a broad-based development strategy emphasizing poverty reduction, private sector growth, and good governance. SBY's bold anti-corruption efforts continue to dismantle decades of public sector corrupt practices in Indonesia, and Indonesia's score on the MCC's "Control of Corruption" indicator now lies within the margin of error of the median. Budgets for social spending have increased significantly two years in a row, and SBY has placed a strong emphasis on educational spending, with the highest ever budget for 2007. As in previous years, the MCC's primary education data for Indonesia fail to capture the majority of spending that flows through local government channels--the best estimate available calculates that 2006 spending was between 1.77 - 1.85% of GDP, far above Indonesia's MCC scores. Health spending is also rising, and in response to a 2005 polio outbreak, the GOI and international donors conducted a series of National Immunization Days (NIDs) in 2005-06 costing $70 million. The GOI reduced the number of days to start a business by a third in 2006. Although Indonesia's 2007 Millennium Challenge Corporation (MCC) scores fall short of the median on corruption and several "investing in people" categories, Indonesia has made important progress in the last two years in these areas and has bought fully into the MCC development model. We see little sign that SBY will change his highly- regarded, pro-western economic team in an expected upcoming cabinet reshuffle, making continued progress on key reforms likely through the 2009 election. With a Threshold Program set for MCC Board approval in the near future, we recommend Washington agencies support Indonesia's next step to compact eligibility in 2007. End Summary. Bold Anti-Corruption Efforts Continue -------------- ¶2. (SBU) Indonesia's 2007 MCC scores provide a useful benchmark of the country's development successes and �A;challenges, but fail to reflect the full reform accomplishments or momentum underway. Indonesia's score on the MCC "Control of Corruption" indicator has improved in three consecutive years, testimony to the anti-corruption efforts of the GOI and changing attitudes toward corruption among the Indonesian public. However, many of the GOI's most robust anti-corruption efforts have taken root only since the SBY Administration came to power in October 2004. As a result, the MCC data do not fully capture the progress in the past two years given the lag time for compilation of corruption perception indices. We anticipate that Indonesia's future MCC corruption scores will more fully reflect the positive impact of the SBY Administration's reform agenda, and propel Indonesia's score - already for the past two years within the statistical margin of error to achieve the median - clearly into positive territory. ¶3. (SBU) SBY's anti-corruption efforts remain strong two years after he took office. Indonesia's corruption fighting bodies (Corruption Eradication Commission, Interagency Corruption Eradication Team, Attorney General's Office, Financial Intelligence Unit) are energized and becoming more institutionalized. SBY or his Ministers have replaced or sidelined corrupt senior officials, including the notoriously corrupt Directors General for Tax and Customs and the entire management board of state-owned oil company Pertamina. More changes of corrupt or ineffective ministers are likely soon. Police Chief Sutanto, appointed in July 2005, has proven to be an effective reformer who has dismissed the heads of two provincial police forces for misconduct. The list of officials convicted or under investigation for corruption continues to grow and now includes a former Minister of Religious Affairs, the former Chairman of the Investment Coordinating Board (BKPM),a prominent Jakarta judge, several senior officials of state- owned enterprises, an Indonesian diplomat and two former police generals. Although SBY's record is not perfect and his cabinet is uneven, for the first time in Indonesia's recent history there is a clear sense that the good guys are winning. . JAKARTA 00012687 002 OF 003 ¶4. (SBU) Decentralization remains a challenge and anti- corruption efforts are uneven at provincial levels. Some local leaders/bodies feel free to ignore mandates from Jakarta. However, the President and reform-minded Cabinet members continue to push from the top, using limited executive authority over an unwieldy bureaucracy as a positive force for change. SBY has kept anti-corruption high on the political agenda. He has granted permission for investigations of high-ranking officials to proceed and made strong statements against corruption in domestic and international speeches. Parliament, while dodging internal reform, has helped by ratifying the United Nations Convention against Corruption, and passing whistleblower protection legislation this year. ¶5. (SBU) The 2006 and 2007 budgets showed increases in spending for education, health, the judiciary, police and military (Ref C). The 2007 budget also contains an overall 23.3% increase in personnel spending for the civil service, which many view as vital to reducing public corruption. This includes a 15% increase in base salaries for the civil service, military and police; higher civil service pensions; a higher allowance for teachers; and a 20% increase in official per diem for the police and the Ministry of Defense. Social Spending Increasing, Especially Education -------------- --- ¶6. (SBU) The central government is backing its new priorities with funding. The major funding vehicle for local governments in Indonesia is the "General Allocation Fund" or DAU. The DAU has grown steadily since 2001 to Rp 145.7 trillion (US $15.8 billion or 4.7% of GDP) in 2006. Its nominal value rises to Rp 163.7 trillion (US $17.8 billion or 4.6% of GDP) in the GOI's initial draft FY 2007 budget. Salaries of Indonesia's 1.48 million teachers as well as those of health workers are paid by DAU funds. Local governments now account for about a third of total government spending. However, the ability of local government units to formulate, allocate and monitor budgeted funds and reporting to the central government is very uneven. This reality continues to complicate data collection for several MCC indicators, an important point the GOI has repeatedly sought to clarify with USG counterparts including the MCC. ¶7. (U) The GOI is raising education spending to a historic high in 2007, and is committed to raising it further in years ahead. The President announced in August that education would receive its highest budget allocation ever at Rp 51.3 trillion (US $5.7 billion) or 10.3% of total government spending for 2007. This is an increase from Rp 43.9 trillion (US $4.8 billion in 2006, and includes Rp 12.6 trillion (US $1.4 billion) to continue two nationwide education assistance programs launched in 2005. The President urged the regions, in a speech to the Council of Regional Representatives on August 23, to give education a top priority, including the improvement of school facilities. ¶8. (U) Actual primary education spending continues to be difficult to calculate because there is no single source of centralized data. However, USAID developed a sophisticated model to calculate the total public expenditure for primary education in Indonesia for 2004-2006. This model is based on extensive collaboration with officials at the Education, Religion, Finance, Development, and Social Welfare Ministries, plus analyses of actual education spending in 17 districts. For 2006, the model estimates total primary education spending at 1.77 - 1.85% of GDP, significantly above the reported MCC data points. (Note: The GOI adjusted this slightly to 1.74% as noted in its submission to the MCC on October 6, 2006. End Note.) Primary education spending has been increasing since 2004 and the positive trend is expected to continue in the 2007 budget. Health Spending - Polio and Other Challenges -------------- ¶9. (U) Health spending in Indonesia is also rising. The 2007 central budget allocation for health increased by 20% from 2006 to Rp 15.3 trillion (US $1.7 billion). This includes an additional Rp 3.6 trillion (US $387 million) in spending for rural health clinics (Puskesmas) and local JAKARTA 00012687 003 OF 003 hospitals. In response to a 2005 wild polio outbreak, the GOI sponsored a series of National immunization days in 2005- 06 targeting 24 million children under age 5 at a total cost of US $70 million. This program has been highly successful, and no new cases have been reported since February 2006. Routine immunization coverage remains challenging, however, especially among poor and hard-to-reach populations in Indonesia's remote areas. The Ministry of Health recognizes the urgent need to re-invigorate the routine immunization system, while also struggling with high-profile, competing priorities such as avian influenza, HIV/AIDS, and tuberculosis. Indonesia's Threshold Plan is designed to addresses the vaccination challenge for this huge nation of 33 provinces, 440 districts, 349 regencies and 91 municipalities. Days to Start a Business Reduced -------------- ¶10. (U) One of the SBY Administration's top economic policy priorities is to improve the investment climate by reducing Indonesia's "high-cost economy." In September 2006, the International Financial Corporation (IFC) reduced Indonesia's oft-cited "151 days to start a business" figure to 97 days. The GOI achieved this reduction mainly by speeding the approval process for company articles of incorporation at the Ministry of Justice. Comment: A MCC Compact and Indonesia's Reforms -------------- - ¶11. (SBU) Indonesia's GDP is more than 25 times larger than the largest MCC compact country (Ghana),and three times larger than the next largest threshold country (Ukraine). Its large population and diversity, huge size, cultural complexity, and decentralized political system create development challenges that smaller countries do not face. Nonetheless, the SBY Administration is pushing through public sector reforms in a variety of areas and levels, some of which were never touched before. These new initiatives, combined with the country's diversity and complexity, create significant challenges for data collection. Precise indicator scores aside, Indonesia has bought into the MCC development approach and its development program is aligned with MCC goals. ¶12. (SBU) The upcoming Presidential visit offers an extraordinary opportunity to maximize the impact of an announcement of MCC compact eligibility for Indonesia. A high profile announcement during the visit would send the strongest possible signal of USG support for Indonesia's reformers, and demonstrate U.S. determination to see Indonesia succeed, despite its myriad challenges. With Indonesia's Threshold Program likely set for board approval on November 8, we strongly urge Washington agencies to make Indonesia eligible for a MCC compact in FY07. PASCOE