We urge the government to be brave and to make a more innovative policy because times have changed.
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·2 minutes read
Kompas/Alif Ichwan
A stack of containers in Tanjung Priok Port, Jakarta, Tuesday (7/1). PT Nusantara Pelabuhan Handal, a company operating a container terminal with a capacity of 600,000 TEUs a year, also supplies port equipment and equipment maintenance services.
Research is required to seek the cause and solution for the flat economic growth of 5 percent over the last five years.
Indonesia has the potential for higher economic growth, considering the country has a demographic bonus, which in other countries has been used to improve their economies. We are also rich in natural resources and natural beauty.
The government’s move within the last three years to massively boost infrastructure development has started to bear fruit. Efforts to eradicate corruption give hope that economic efficiency will improve. Prudence in fiscal and monetary policy and efforts to open various investment blocks has raised Indonesia\'s rating in the ease of doing business index.
With this capital, the flat economic growth within the last five years encourages us to search for the causes outside the technical nature of the economy. At the Kompas100 CEO Forum last week, President Joko Widodo asked businesspeople not to worry and to continue to invest and expand businesses, even though there will be simultaneous regional elections in 171 regions next year.
Hesitation among businesspeople needs to be answered with concrete evidence from the government. A policy has to be sustainable and consistent, not easily changed in the middle of the road. The policy, which carries out constitutional mandate on the state\'s mastery of the branches of production, which affects the livelihood of many people, has to lure investment.
Businesspeople need clarity and consistency in the policy implementation. Therefore, the policy decision-making process needs to consider its implication on businesspeople. Coordination among institutions from the central government up to the regions needs to be improved so as not to cause confusion among businesspeople.
Amid short-term successes, we are faced with fundamental challenges, namely a way out of the trap of a low-income country.
Increasing the productivity of human resources through education in line with the market is necessary.
We can only utilize the presence of the digital era maximally if we have a clear industrialization strategy. We cannot ignore the manufacturing industry even though the border between the manufacturing sector and services is getting increasingly closer. We still need foreign exchange from the exports of non-commodity products and the production of goods to reduce imports.
We urge the government to be brave and to make a more innovative policy because times have changed.
