Quotation from my book titled: “Franchising and Licensing in Indonesia: Regulations and Practices”.

This book will be published in English on August 2015

 Greetings by the Chairwoman of the Indonesian Franchising and Licensing Society (WALI)

As the head of WALI, I extend my congratulations and appreciation to Mr. Amir Karamoy for the publishin of this book. To my knowledge, this is the first franchising and licensing book on Indonesia, written in English.

The author of this book, is a teacher, mentor, and colleague to me. We have often discussed on ways to advance the franchising & licensing industry in Indonesia. Many of the thoughts inspired franchising policies in Indonesia. Among others, there needs to be a limit on company owned outlets/stores in franchising. Not enforcing the provision on the “post-expiry non-competition clause” in franchising agreement. Except aspects related to IP. Introducing the term “pewaralaba” into franchisor and “terwaralaba” into franchisee, was a creation by Mr. Amir Karamoy. The terms above, have been adopted into the franchising Law and regulations in Indonesia.

With the release of this book, each foreign franchise planning to enter in the Indonesian market, in my suggestion, should read this book. Such is the case for franchise consultants and franchise/license legal consultants from abroad. By reading this book, the background and discussions that have been developing over the release of franchising regulations will be understood.

As a legal scholar, I understand the intricacies of regulations related to franchising in Indonesia. This complexity, does not apply only to the substance, but also due to the quantity. Due to this complexity, the Trade Minister (in the cabinet’s last era of President Susilo Bambang Yudoyono 2009 – 2014) that replaced the previous minister, carried out revisions on a few Trade Regulations on franchising. This is discussed further in the book.I myself do not understand why there are so many regulations in managing franchising in Indonesia. In most countries, there is only one rule on franchising, but it covers all aspects that needs to be managed.

Hopefully the publishing of this book will provide direction to improve the quality of franchise regulations in the coming future.

* * *

Franchising is a business method – in the endeavour of market expansion – based on IP, also related to agreement laws. The strength of franchising (& licensing) economically, is measured by the number of outlets/stores that have been built successfully. The more outlets/stores established, the stronger the business. Strength defined is the ability to survive in situations where there is slow-down in economic growth. Because of this, there are parties that say franchising is a business immune to economic recession.

In the effort of business expansion, the franchisor really needs to strengthen the content quality of franchise (& license) agreements. The agreement content does not have to be identical to another, but still adjusted to conditions or local needs.

Every businessman that will and have operated franchises (& licenses), should pay more attention to the content quality by managing rights and obligations of parties fairly and proportionally. Also forming professional communication divisions for issues internally or externally. As in my opinion, two-way communication between the franchisor and franchisee, or between franchisees should be held based on the principle of “win-win relationships”.

Hopefully this book will provide inputs for the glory of Indonesian franchising (& licensing), both domestically or globally

September, 2015

Levita Supit

Chairwoman of WALI