NEWS | Conference Delegates See a Bright Future for Indonesia
Lydia Tomkiw | July 28, 2011 | The Jakarta Globe
Jakarta, July 28, 2011 - “What will Indonesia look like 10, 20 and 30 years from today?” asked Gita Wirjawan, head of Indonesia’s Investment Coordinating Board, at Thursday’s International Conference on Futurology in Jakarta.
The conference brought together speakers from around the world to discuss the pressing issues of the coming decades, focusing especially on Indonesia’s future role on the world stage.
Chairul Tandjung, chairman of the National Economics Committee and owner of the Para Group, said that all data pointed to Indonesia growing and by 2020 potentially accounting for more than 50 percent of the Southeast Asian economy.
“Don’t underestimate Indonesia, but also don’t overestimate Indonesia,” Chairul said, after several speakers spoke in optimistic terms about the country’s prospects.
In order for Indonesia to achieve its estimated fivefold growth potential by 2025, Chairul said, the country would need to make food security a priority.
“Food is the most important thing for Indonesia right now,” he said.
Chairul said that all technological and energy resources should be directed toward the agricultural sector to ensure that Indonesia can feed its population of 240 million.
Gita predicted that by 2030 Indonesia would be one of the world’s top economies. Last year, the nation’s gross domestic product rose 6.1 percent to around $700 billion.
The central bank forecasts the economy will grow by 6.8 percent this year, as low borrowing costs push consumers to take out loans and spend on goods such as cars and homes.
“Our financial portrait is as sexy as ever,” Gita said.
But achieving all of the country’s future goals will not be easy, he said. Educating a greater portion of the population will be essential for Indonesia’s future.
“This is the Lady Gaga, Justin Bieber, Google and iPad generation,” Gita said. “We need to infuse education. The future will be driven by the young people attending this conference.”
Anies Baswedan, the rector of Paramadina University in Jakarta, said it was concerning that many Indonesians were still not making it past primary school. The number of students graduating with PhDs in Indonesia remains much smaller than it should be, he said, without providing details.
Infrastructure will also affect the country’s future growth. Gita said that he hoped in the next 20 years the country would add 150,000 kilometers of roads and greatly increase broadband Internet penetration from its current level of 18 percent.
While Anies didn’t directly address the graft allegations dogging the ruling Democratic Party, he did acknowledge that there might be some barriers to Gita’s vision.
“We have democracy, but we don’t have certainty, especially legal certainty,” Anies said. “You can be an optimist without having to be pro-government.”
The largely positive conference also discussed the importance of developing human capital and focusing on growing and encouraging entrepreneurs.
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