International Investment Law and Transfer of Technology Presents Experts from Switzerland and Hungary

Faculty of Law Universitas Islam Indonesia (UII) held an International Seminar entitled International Investment Law and Transfer of Technology, on Thursday (5/9/2019). The event was organized by Faculty of Law UII in collaboration with Swisscontact, the Indonesian Intellectual Property Center Association (ASKII), and Telkom University (UT).

The seminar was divided into two sessions that presented six legal experts from various perspectives to study the phenomenon of technology transfer and intellectual property. In the first session presenting Dr. Kamran Housang Pour, Nandang Sutrisno, SH, MH, LLM, PhD, Dr. Siti Anisah, S.H., M.Hum., and Professor Dr. Sefriani, S.H., M.Hum., As the speakers. While the second session was filled by Professor Fèzer Tamás, Professor Dr. Ni’matul Huda, S.H., M.Hum., Dr. Budi Agus Riswandi, S.H., M.H., and Christoper Cason, JD. The entire material is delivered in English.

During the first session, Dr. Kamran Housang Pour from the Swiss Federal Institute of Intellectual Property, delivered his expertise on the International Patent Protection System and Transfer of Technology in Foreign Direct Investment. According to him, in this current era, full attention is needed from all aspects of law, on not only technological developments, but also the ‘ideas’ of technologies. According to him, humans have a tendency to ‘share ideas’ in developing technology. These events led to Technology Transfer. According to Kamran, the government has an obligation to protect the Technology Transfer process through policies and laws. “The government should have protection for Technology Transfer”, he stressed in the forum.

Nandang Sutrisno SH, MH, LLM, PhD, delivered material related to Foreign Investment during the Second Term of Joko Widodo. According to Nandang, there have been a lot of policy changes from the first half to the two governments of President Joko Widodo. Nandang said, the investment index during the administration of President Joko Widodo increased in the midterm 2015-2019. The index increased through digital economic growth in Indonesia. According to Nandang, Indonesia has become one of the biggest houses for Unicorns. In fact, the value of Unicorn’s investment in Indonesia has even been able to beat the government’s investment. “GoJek is bigger than Garuda … “added Nandang while giving examples of data.

Unlike Nandang, Dr. Siti Anisah, S.H., M.Hum., showed the horrors of the challenges for investment in Indonesia. According to Siti Anisah, actually Indonesia is a ‘paradise’ for foreign investment. Government policies have made it easy and friendly to foreign investment. However, obstacles actually arise from irresponsible actors. “I think the Indonesian is a heaven for investment, the regulation itself is friendly with investment, but the actor doesn’t,” she said. According to Siti Anisah, Indonesia must immediately improve the law structure and law enforcement of foreign investment policies. She said, the fact is there are many obstacles occurring to foreign investors in Indonesia. “One of them is the price of advocates for foreign investors is more expensive,” she added.

Professor Dr. Sefriani, S.H., M.Hum., expressed her views on the Bilateral Investment Treaty (BIT) from Indonesian perspective. According to Sefriani, the existence would have the potential to harm Indonesia if not seriously discussed by the government. Although used widely by many countries, BIT can be detrimental to Indonesia as it does not specify a clear parameter for its termination. “Many BITs contain unclear parameters for such terms as fair and equal treatment, there is no definition for ‘fair and equal treatment'”, notes Sefriani.