BPS mulls new GDP concept

BPS mulls new GDP concept

The Jakarta Post, Jakarta

The Central Bureau of Statistics (BPS) is studying the
possibility of including environmental costs in measuring the
country's economic growth, in a bid to seek a comprehensive
assessment of the sustainability of growth and the environment.

"Environmental costs must be incorporated in the measurement
of economic growth, to create a genuine picture of growth,"
Soedarti Surbakti, head of the bureau, said after opening an
international workshop here.

The workshop on environmental and economic accounting is being
held jointly by BPS and the United Nations Statistic Division.

The five-day workshop aims to provide training for
statisticians in carrying out a new environmental and economic
accounting system, as well as to provide a forum for an exchange
of views between participating countries.

The workshop is being attended by some 40 participants from at
least 12 countries and five international organizations.

Soedarti said the current method of measuring gross domestic
product (GDP) growth, which does not incorporate environmental
costs, was misleading because it did not take into account the
environmental damage caused by economic activities.

She said it was time for Indonesia to include environmental
costs in the measurement of GDP, as the country's natural
resources were disappearing at a rapid rate.

"It is called Green GDP," said Soedarti, adding that Green GDP
was expected to become an engine for sustainable economic
development.