JAKARTA (AFP): The World Trade Organization (WTO) has urged Indonesia to press on with trade reforms to boost growth, reduce poverty and attract foreign investment.

The WTO, in a statement made available Tuesday, says trade liberalisation and other structural reforms since the 1997-1998 financial crisis have successfully stabilised the economy and fostered growth.

"But the economy remains fragile and the recent global downturn has heavily reduced foreign investment on which the economy critically depends," it says, summarising a report released Monday by the WTO Secretariat.

The report says further trade and other structural reforms, including strengthened governance and institutions, are needed "to alleviate poverty, to provide the basis for the sustained growth of the economy and to help boost investor confidence, something which the country urgently needs."

It urges greater transparency and public scrutiny of trade policies especially in sensitive sectors, "where trade policy seems to be set on an ad hoc basis."

The report says speeded-up privatisation and further reforms to state-owned enterprises, together with deregulation and measures to foster competition, could also help improve the economic environment.

 Source :  The Jakarta Post