"Embracing business and human rights", 3 April 2017

...The ongoing negotiations on business and human rights (BHR)...have triggered national discourse on how Indonesia should respond to it...

Currently, no regulations specifically regulate the human rights aspect of business conduct.

With its economy and foreign direct investment inflows growing at a promising rate, BHR will only become more relevant for Indonesia. The implementation of the UNGP principles could be beneficial to ensure that economic development does not come at the expense of human rights.

Discourse on...BHR...identifies several challenges for the government, but I will outline the way forward... 

First...the BHR issue transcends beyond sectors: labor, environment, security, health, among others. The focal point is the first step toward mainstreaming BHR policy...and it is also essential to produce a coherent policy...The Office of the Economic Coordinating Minister seems to be the most suitable institution to become a focal point in promoting UNGP provisions because the ministries under its coordination interact directly with business actors.

Second is the importance of continued dissemination of UNGP provisions to all stakeholders in Indonesia, particularly business actors (including small and medium enterprises) to raise their awareness, encourage its implementation and prepare them for further development of the BHR issue... 

Third is the need to start developing a BHR framework in Indonesia...