Boost skills of populace: Soeharto

JAKARTA (JP): Developing countries can improve their social, political and economic life only if they strive to strengthen the skills of its population, President Soeharto said.

Opening an international conference on human resource development at the State Palace last night, Soeharto appealed to the industrialized countries to lend a helping hand because developing countries cannot achieve these goals alone.

Soeharto told the participants from some 40 countries that the small quantity and poor quality of human resources were the most challenging problems facing both developing and industrialized countries.

"The size of our population is great," he said. "Their level of education and training, however, is low. They have yet to master modern science and technology, which they will need to survive the current trend of economic globalization."

"Without educated and productive workers, it is difficult for a country to improve the welfare of its people. This, in turn, hampers a country's efforts to achieve a democratic, social and political life. On the other hand," he added, "without economic growth, it is difficult for a nation to improve the quality of its human resources."

Organizer

The three-day international conference on human resource development is organized by the Center for Information and Development Studies (CIDES), a think-tank of the influential Association of the Indonesian Moslem Intellectuals (ICMI). State Minister of Research and Technology B.J. Habibie chairs both organizations.

The conference will feature prominent speakers, including Malaysian Prime Minister Dr. Mahathir Mohamad, Iranian parliamentarian Dr. Javad Larijani, and Dr. Rudiger Matchetzki of the Institut fur Asiankunde, Germany.

Attended by government officials, academics, non-governmental organization activists and representatives of international business organizations, the conference will focus on three major subjects: the social-political system and development, the development of social and economic infrastructures, and the poverty alleviation within the framework of a self-propelling growth scheme.

Soeharto said in his speech that some of the benefits to be reaped by developing countries in improving relations with the industrialized nations is an opportunity to absorb its advanced science and technology, as well as the chance to take advantage of market opportunity.

"We all hope that the South-South cooperation and North-South cooperation can be intensified and widened so they become a truly global effort," said the chairman of the Non-Aligned Movement.

Critical

Soeharto pointed out that, until today, only a handful of developing countries had been able to overcome critical situations in their economic development.

Reduced flow of foreign aid to developing countries has further hampered the developing nations' efforts to solve their fundamental economic problems, such as debt payment.

He said he hoped the conference would contribute to the international effort to alleviate poverty in various parts of the globe.

"(The cooperation) hopefully will be established not only at a government level, but also by the public as well," he said. "In order to achieve the goals we need a more just and proportional economic cooperation from both sides, which is supported by international institutions."

He said that in the absence of such conditions, the imbalanced relations between countries would continue and ultimately harm every party concerned.

Soeharto also placed great hope in international institutions to help reduce gaps in income and economic development between developing and industrialized countries. "We hope that imbalances, whether overt or covert, will change into just relations of both sides," he added. (swe)