RI BOASTING TO BECOME ECONOMIC LEADER IN ASIA

By Andi Abdussalam

Jakarta, July 13 (ANTARA) - With a view on developments in both external and internal economic factors, government officials are convinced that Indonesia will in the future become one of the economic leaders in Asia.          "Looking at our performance in  economic development over the past several years, we believe that we will  be one of  the seven countries predicted to become the economic leaders in Asia by 2050,"  Development Planning Minister Alisjahbana said.          The minister said the other six other countries were China, India, Thailand, Vietnam, Malaysia and South Korea. This is based on an  Asian Development (ADB) study showing that in 2050 Asia would become the center of growth.          "Asia is dynamic so that 2050 will be the Asian Century where 50 percent of the world economy will be centered in Asia," the minister said.          In order to create the Asian century in 2050, countries in Asia should support it with integrated national policies and regional cooperation. "Indonesia already has a master plan, something that is needed to help  realize the Asian Century in 2050.          Chief Economic Minister Hatta Rajasa said that its presence in the global economic gravitation, namely in East Asia and Southeast Asia, necessitated Indonesia to prepare itself to become a new advanced country.          In this context, the government was aware of the need to prepare a plan so that it formulated its Master Plan for Acceleration and Expansion of Indonesia's Economy (MP3EI) that would serve as a guide for economic development until 2025.          Among the targets Indonesia has set in the master plan is to achieve a per capita income of  about 15,500 US dollars in 2025, a big increase from the present 3,000 US dollars.          If the state has reached a per capita income of 10,000 US dollars it would mean that the country has been included in the group of high-income nations, National Economic Committee Chairman Chairul Tanjung said meanwhile.          Hatta said that  Indonesia at present had been ranked 17th on the list of the world's biggest economies, exceeding the positions of several advanced states such as Switzerland, Norway, Sweden and South Africa, the National Mandate Party politician (PAN) said.          Yet,  he said that the target that would be achieved through the master plan  was too low because Indonesia could achieve higher than that.          "If we make serious efforts we can achieve two folds of the target set for the 2025," Chairul Tanjung said in a seminar on the national entrepreneurship spirit at the office of the nation's largest Muslim organization NU on Saturday.           Chairul said that in the  MP3EI  the government set a target to achieve a per capita income between 14,250 and 15,500 US dollars.  "The per capita income of the Indonesian people in 2010 had reached 3,000 US dollars," he said.          Chairul who is owner of Para Group said that the government's target of 15,500 US dollars could be achieved before 2025.  "This is a high income category, before 2025 Indonesia would already have an income per capita of 14,250 - 15,500 US dollars," he added     Chief Economic Minister Hatta concurred with Chairul said that Indonesia should not wait for 40 years in developing an innovation drive economy.          He said that the government needed to formulate steps in order to accelerate the creation of an advanced state with a world-class competitiveness.          The global and domestic economic dynamism necessitated Indonesia to prepare itself in the face of changes. In 2010, the Indonesian per capita income was recorded at over US$3000.          This means that it is now time for Indonesia to shift to efficiency driven economy, he said.          "The international communities have given Indonesia a positive appreciation for the economic improvement it has made," the minister said. He said that Indonesia was able to improve the rate of its external debt position which experienced a decline at a time when others' debts were increasing.          "But what we have achieved now turned out to take us 40 years if we calculated what we have planned since the 60s," Hatta Rajasa said.          Seeing the dynamism of the Indonesian economy, the coordinating minister for economic affairs said that Indonesia should not wait for another 40 years to achieve its economic goals.          After all, external economic conditions such as the slow recovery of the global economy after crisis in the past several years, place Indonesia as one of the countries in Asia which would attract foreign investors.          (T.A014/A/HAJM/23:35/H-YH)) 13-07-2011