Recently, Queen Law Firm received several debt disputes between foreign companies and Indonesian companies. Foreign companies provided products or services to Indonesian companies, but Indonesian companies did not perform contracts to make payments. Among them, the case of several foreign companies could not be recovered through legal channels, because at the time of signing the contract, there was no contract in the Indonesian version, only the English version of the contract.
Indonesian law stipulates that a contract must be signed in Indonesia and Indonesian stamp duty must be used in order to have a legal effect. This is a necessary measure for a country to maintain its sovereignty and international image. However, many foreign companies do not know enough about Indonesia’s national conditions. They do not know that Indonesia’s official language is not English, but Indonesian language. They do not pay enough attention to legal matters. This has been exploited by many Indonesian companies to legally collect debts. Hidden hidden dangers.
The picture below is a stamp duty commonly used in Indonesian contracts. All contracts must be stamped and then signed to be legally binding.
This matter has already attracted the attention of many governments. The Japanese government has specially trained in this area for Japanese companies that will conduct commercial activities in Indonesia. The governments of other countries have not attracted enough attention, and we are also very distressed to see that many foreign companies have suffered losses.
So, is there a solution to this situation? Our answer is, yes. But the risks are higher, the costs are higher, and it takes longer time.
Therefore, if a foreign company wants to conduct business activities in Indonesia, it is best to hire a professional lawyer to carry out relevant legal services, such as contract drafting, document review, qualification review, and commercial negotiation. Things about the law must not be taken lightly, otherwise there will be endless troubles.