Jokowi is proud of Indonesia-centric development
This article has been translated by PwC Indonesia as part of our Indonesia Infrastructure News Service. PwC Indonesia has not checked the accuracy of, and accepts no responsibility for the content.
Investor Daily - Jokowi bangga dengan pembangunan Indonesiasentris
19 August 2024
By Stefani Wijaya and Arnoldus Kristianus
Jakarta, ID – President Joko Widodo expressed his pride that over the past 10 years, Indonesia has successfully established a foundation and a new civilisation through Indonesia-centric development. Numerous achievements across various sectors have also been realised, providing a foundation for the next government to build upon.
“Alhamdulillah (Praise be to God), over the past 10 years, we have successfully built a foundation and a new civilisation through Indonesia-centric development, which includes the development of outer areas, such as the outermost villages and regions,” Jokowi said in his performance accountability report speech approaching the 79th Indonesian Independence Day at the 2024 annual session of the People’s Consultative Assembly (MPR) held in conjunction with the joint session of the House of Representatives (DPR) and the Regional Representative Council (DPD) in Jakarta on Friday (16/8/2024).
He explained that, to date, 366,000 kilometres of roads in villages, 1.9 million metres of bridges in villages, 2,700 kilometres of new toll roads, 6,000 kilometres of national roads, 50 new ports and airports, 43 dams, and 1.1 million hectares of new irrigation networks have been constructed.
“As a result, we successfully reduced logistics costs from 24% to 14% in 2023. Consequently, we improved our competitiveness from rank 44 to rank 27 in 2024,” he said.
According to him, this success can strengthen unity as access will become more equitable and just.
“Moreover, our resilience as a nation has been proven by how we faced the Covid-19 pandemic, climate change, and global geopolitical tensions,” Jokowi said.
According to him, Indonesia is one of the few countries that could recover quickly and even continue to grow. Economic growth has been maintained above 5%, even when many countries did not grow at all. Areas in eastern Indonesia, such as Papua and Maluku, actually grew above 6%, while North Maluku grew above 20%.
Inflation is also under control at around 2%-3%, while other countries have experienced significant surges, with some even surpassing 200%. Extreme poverty has been reduced from 6.1% to 0.8% in 2024. Meanwhile, stunting has decreased from 37.2% to 21.5% in 2023. The unemployment rate has also been lowered from 5.7% to 4.8% in 2024.
Efforts to protect people in the lower economic bracket have also provided many benefits for the populace. A budget of Rp361 trillion for the Healthy Indonesian Card (KIS) over the last 10 years has been used to finance health services for more than 92 million JKN participants annually, from early age to the elderly, throughout Indonesia.
A budget of Rp113 trillion for the Smart Indonesia Card (KIP) over the last 10 years has been used for the education of more than 20 million students annually, from the elementary level to high school, across Indonesia. Meanwhile, a budget of Rp225 trillion for the Family Hope Program (PKH) over the last 10 years has been utilised to enhance the economy for around 10 million less fortunate families per year.
A budget of Rp60.3 trillion for the pre-employment programme over the last 5 years has been utilised to enhance the skills of 18.8 million workers throughout Indonesia.
“This is the development we have been dreaming of: a development that reaches all of the populace, impacts a vast portion of the population, and opens opportunities for mutual growth,” Jokowi explained.
Downstreaming success
During the occasion, Jokowi also revealed the success of the downstreaming programme he implemented. Jokowi said that the government has taken a major step to increase productivity and add value by no longer exporting crude materials, but processing them domestically first. He stated that implementing this policy is not easy, as many countries have resisted and tried to make it fail.
“However, as a major sovereign country, we did not back down. We even took a step forward. This initiative began with nickel, bauxite, and copper, and will be followed by tin and other potential sectors, such as plantation, agriculture, and maritime,” he stated.
He stated that, to date, smelters and processing industries for nickel, bauxite, and copper have provided jobs for more than 200 thousand workers, increasing state revenue by Rp158 trillion over the last 8 years.
The government has also reclaimed assets that had been managed by foreign parties for decades, such as Freeport, the Rokan Block, and Newmont.
Additionally, as the world is currently moving towards a green economy, Indonesia does not want to miss the momentum. Indonesia has significant potential in the green energy sector, with more than 3,600 GW of energy from wind, solar, geothermal, sea waves, and bioenergy.
“The energy transition that we want to realise is a just energy transition that is affordable and accessible by the public,” he stated.
Electrification must be continuously expanded to reach 99% by 2024. Similarly, internet coverage must be increased to reach 79% by 2024. This will create an excellent ecosystem to boost MSME digitalisation and startup development in Indonesia, leading to the creation of younger and quality entrepreneurs in the country.
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