Success and challenges<\/p>\n
President Soeharto's annual State of the Nation Address to
\nmark Independence Day, besides serving as contemplation of our
\nstatehood experience over the last year, also gives an accounting
\nof the overall development in the 1993-1994 fiscal year that
\nended last March. And because that fiscal year marked the end of
\nIndonesia's First Long Term (25 years) Development Stage, this
\nyear's address also recounts the development records for that
\nperiod and charts out the changes the nation will likely face in
\nthe Second Long-Term Development Stage, which began last April.
\nThe details of the development in all sectors are stipulated in a
\nbulky "President's Report" attached to the speech.<\/p>\n
Among the outstanding development records achieved over the
\npast 25 years are the average economic growth of 6.8 percent, the
\nrestructuring of the economy away from heavy dependence on the
\nhydrocarbon sector to a broader economic base encompassing a more
\nadvanced agricultural sector, which is supported by a
\nstructurally stronger and broader manufacturing industry.<\/p>\n
The President also cited key indicators, such as health, life
\nexpectancy, education -- that show impressive advancements in the
\noverall welfare of the people and testify to the government's
\ndetermination to implement a balanced development.<\/p>\n
But because perceptions are often formed more by rising
\nexpectations and aspirations rather than by past achievements in
\na rapidly growing society like that of Indonesia, and because
\nIndonesia's development is taking place in a rapidly changing
\nworld in the midst of the process of economic globalization, the
\nchallenges ahead remain formidable.<\/p>\n
The first challenge, as the President honestly admitted, is
\nrelated to poverty and inequality in income distribution and
\nbusiness asset ownership. Despite the remarkable progress, there
\nare still an estimated 26 million Indonesians, or 14 percent of
\nthe total population, living below the poverty line. This problem
\nis being coped with by a better targeting program called the Aid
\nScheme for the Least Developed Villages.<\/p>\n
The President also touched upon the need to build a strong and
\nself-reliant base of small-sized and medium-scale businesses in a
\nbid to raise equitable distribution of business and to build a
\ndependable private sector.<\/p>\n
That also calls for more meaningful public participation in
\nthe development process. Put another way, the development process
\nrequires democracy. The President himself acknowledged that many
\nnations had suffered from setbacks because they failed to apply
\ndemocratic principles in their political and economic life.<\/p>\n
As the industrial sector has been and will continue to be the
\nprime mover of development, concerted efforts are needed to
\nstrengthen the roots and to broaden the base of the manufacturing
\nindustry. That requires broad-based downstream manufacturing
\noperations supported by efficient upstream industries. Such
\nefforts are by no means easy, especially because they should be
\nimplemented in a global context in that everything should be
\ndesigned in terms of international market competition.<\/p>\n
Soeharto rightly touched upon another challenge in industrial
\ndevelopment -- transferring surplus manpower from the
\nagricultural (meaning rural) sector to the industrial sector.
\nThat demands not only adequate vocational training but also
\nchanges in the attitude of farm laborers to prepare them to
\nbecome paid workers in the modern industrial sector. This will be
\nformidable indeed because an estimated 2.5 million job seekers
\nwill enter the market every year in the next few years.<\/p>\n
The challenges ahead have clearly been identified and the
\nnecessary strategy has been set and translated into the Sixth
\nFive Year Development Plan that launched the Second Long-Term
\nDevelopment Stage last April.<\/p>\n
The government's main task now is to execute all those
\nprograms in a consistent manner without being sidetracked by
\nvested interests either within the bureaucracy, or in the private
\nsector, while improving the total environment for broader public
\nparticipation in the development process in its broadest terms.<\/p>",
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"sponsor": "Okusi Associates",
"sponsor_url": "https:\/\/okusiassociates.com"
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