Indonesia facing difficult challenges<\/p>\n
By Juwono Sudarsono<\/p>\n
The following is an excerpt of a paper presented at the Asia-
\nPacific Forum meeting on May 20.<\/p>\n
JAKARTA: Indonesia's second long-term development (1994-2019)
\npromises to be far more challenging than the first (1969-1994)
\n25-year stage.<\/p>\n
During the first phase, Indonesia's external and internal
\nenvironments were favorable to the country's determined efforts
\nto press ahead with national development based on political
\nstability, economic growth and social equity.<\/p>\n
Externally, the international and regional environment enabled
\nthe government to benefit from reconciliation with Malaysia and
\nSingapore, initiate the creation of ASEAN, and secure favorable
\nexternal economic assistance from an international aid
\nconsortium.<\/p>\n
The World Bank, the Asian Development Bank and private
\nmultilateral agencies did their share in providing timely
\nassistance that Indonesia needed at crucial phases in the
\ndevelopment process.<\/p>\n
From the outset, it was clear that Indonesia's transformation
\nfrom a regional recalcitrant into a regional peacemaker, its
\nstrategic location in maritime Southeast Asia, its vast pool of
\nnatural resources and its striking potential as a vibrant market
\nwere crucial factors in the sustained focus and assistance given
\nto the country's national development.<\/p>\n
The challenge for the 1994-2019 period is that at the present
\nstage of international relations, those favorable factors have
\nreceded into the past. The post Cold War era has underscored the
\nrise of acute competition for investments, trade and market
\naccess from other regions of the world Eastern Europe, China,
\nVietnam, India, Bangladesh, even from Latin America.<\/p>\n
Domestically, the success of Indonesia's concentration on
\ninternal economic reconstruction has given rise to heightened
\nsense of urgency that the nation must give more attention to
\nperennial problems of defining central authority's relationships
\nwith the periphery particularly in Aceh, Irian Jaya and East
\nTimor.<\/p>\n
Differences in the scope, speed and intensity of globalization
\nof production, of investment, of financing and of marketing have
\nexacerbated relations between the modern sector in manufacturing,
\nmining, services and agri-business with the more traditional
\nsectors of agriculture, fisheries and village-based small scale
\nindustries.<\/p>\n
Centralized patterns of political and economic decision-making
\nmust give way to gradual decentralization and regional autonomy.<\/p>\n
More than ever, central government must provide the impetus so
\nthat archetypical industrial centers such as West and East Java
\nfacilitate a higher level of integration with the world economy
\nto the eastern half of Indonesia.<\/p>\n
Political, commercial and transportation centers of "prime
\ncities" such as Medan, Palembang, Pontianak, Banjarmasin,
\nBalikpapan, Semarang, Surabaya, Ambon and Jayapura will have to
\nfunction effectively as intersecting points in a wider network of
\nexchanges of goods, services and qualified personnel across the
\narchipelago.<\/p>\n
Key cities and resource-based provinces in the outer islands
\nincreasingly interact with growth poles in the Asia-Pacific
\nregion.<\/p>\n
The rise of an emergent middle-class (estimated to be 18
\nmillion) will increasingly lead to more assertive political
\ndemands for participation not only in the urban centers of
\nSumatra, Java, Sulawesi and Kalimantan but also in the three
\noutlying areas of North Sumatra, North Sulawesi and Irian Jaya.<\/p>\n
Political and administrative institutions more specifically
\nlocal bureaucracy and regional parliaments will have to bear the
\ntwin burdens of good governance and timely delivery of public
\ngoods: physical safety, ports, roads electricity, water-supply,
\nhealth care, primary and secondary education.<\/p>\n
Culturally, Indonesian language, literature and arts will have
\nto flourish if they are to retain their vital roles as an
\nessential palliatives in maintaining Indonesia's unity and
\ncohesion in the face of increased commercialism.<\/p>\n
Likewise, the Indonesian media will have to be more committed
\nto play an increasingly strategic role as public educators as
\nwell as flourishing business enterprises. Regional universities
\nwelcome the challenge to become centers of public education so
\nthat human resources development expand across a wider spectrum
\nof the archipelago.<\/p>\n
As the speed of information, ideas and commercial exchanges
\nspur wide-ranging structural changes in Indonesian society,
\ncultural impulses must be encouraged to provide elixir toward
\nincreased freedom and the growth of civil society.<\/p>\n
No less important, inter-ethnic and inter-religious harmony
\nmust retain their vital roles in underpinning an increasingly
\nvibrant and self-confident Indonesian society, leading to
\nprogressively larger freedom and protection of human rights.<\/p>\n
There will be need for periodic adjustment of the scope and
\ndegree of the political role of the armed services, though its
\ncentrality in Indonesian political life will continue until
\ncivilians improve their modes of leadership recruitment and
\norganizational discipline.<\/p>\n
As the nation as a whole becomes more complex and specialized,
\nmuch of the technical and managerial roles which have been
\nundertaken by Indonesian officers at various levels of government
\nwill naturally be devolved to their civilian counterparts.<\/p>\n
Younger Indonesians, who now make up more than 40 percent of
\nthe population, take Indonesian unity and cohesion for granted.
\nInevitably, there are demands for greater participation in
\ndecision-making based on merit and professional competence.<\/p>\n
Indonesia will continue to care social, economic and political
\nproblems that will be never-ending issues of contention between
\nofficials and non-government organizations at home and abroad;
\nfacing up to these issues fairly and squarely is part of our
\nmaturing process as a nation.<\/p>\n
Striking a balance between economic efficiency and political
\nimperatives will continue to test the ingenuity of leaders in
\nnational and provincial government. As the western half growth
\ntriangles (Singapore-Johore-Riau, SIJORI; the Indonesia-Malaysia-
\nThailand, IMTGT) make economic sense, the East ASEAN cooperative
\nscheme must ensure that there is a complementary relationship to
\nstrengthen Indonesia's sense of national identity and shared
\nprosperity.<\/p>\n
An underlying problem, population growth cuts across a host of
\nother challenges such as youth unemployment, disputes over land
\ntitles, unrest in industries increasingly pressured by
\ninternational competition, the all-important role of women in
\ncaring and preparing for the next generation of leaders.<\/p>\n
There is also the problem of matching population policy with
\neconomic growth and protection of the environment; sustainable
\ndevelopment is an inter-generational commitment.<\/p>\n
Intense globalization and regionalization has heightened the
\ndangers of fragmentation among and within nations: ethnic
\nanimosity, racial antagonism, narrow provincialism, linguistic
\nassertiveness and religious fanaticism.<\/p>\n
These intra-nation conflicts can spill over to regional
\ninstability, leading to outbreak of hostilities among nations.<\/p>\n
All Indonesians are determined that the nation will remain
\nunited politically as well as sustain adequate economic growth.<\/p>\n
Our doctrine of national and regional resilience make it
\nmandatory that we anticipate political, economic, cultural and
\ntechnological shifts of power affecting our will to provide
\nsubstance into political independence.<\/p>\n
As member of ASEAN, chair of the non-aligned movement and host
\nof the next APEC summit, we are as dedicated to international
\npeace and security, just as we are bound to our commitment to
\nestablish an equitable and prosperous Indonesian nation.<\/p>\n
Dr Juwono Sudarsono is the Dean of the Faculty of Social &
\nPolitical Sciences of the University of Indonesia.<\/p>",
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