Buy local products: Soeharto
Buy local products: Soeharto
JAKARTA (JP): One way of safeguarding Indonesia from the impacts of free trade is for its citizens to support its own industry and buy locally made products.
In his end of the year speech broadcast nationwide on Saturday, President Soeharto reiterated that Indonesia cannot but join in the global trend towards free trade, whether it likes it or not, or whether it is ready or not.
The country's industry must move to strengthen its competitiveness so that it can compete against foreign suppliers whether abroad or at home, he said.
"Therefore, let's all love domestic products," Soeharto said. "This would provide tremendous support for the domestic industry. It is the new spirits of catching up in progress, of togetherness and of nationalism that we have to take with us upon entering the new year."
Soeharto was widely accredited for pushing the Asia Pacific Economic Cooperation (APEC) forum to agree on a 2020 deadline to establish free trade in the region at the APEC leadership meeting which he hosted in Bogor, West Java, in November.
There ins another reason why Soeharto moved to rekindle the spirit of nationalism of the people of Indonesia in his speech on Saturday -- 1995 marks Indonesia's 50th independence anniversary.
"We have strengthened the Unitary State of the Republic of Indonesia, its unity and sovereignty ... If tomorrow morning we begin to prepare for a series of activities to mark the half century of this republic, that means that we are reinvigorating a the spirit of our body as a nation."
Reviewing 1994, Soeharto said nature had not been kind to Indonesia during the year. A series of natural disasters killed many, wreaking untold destruction, as a severe, prolonged dry season left many parts of the archipelago without water.
The nation managed to overcame these disasters to the best of its capability. "Of course, there wasn't much that we could have done to prevent or contain the dry season or the disasters. They are part of nature," Soeharto said.
"There are always lessons to be learned from this experience. We have become even more conscious that our life is closely tied to nature."
He said the people and the government should jointly bear the responsibility for protecting the environment and the nation's precious natural resources.
In politics, Soeharto considered 1994 a year of consolidation for many political and mass organizations in the country. "We are concerned that if these consolidation efforts are disrupted, this will affect the rate of national development.
Soeharto also said the Indonesian economy performed quite well in 1994.
He said the economic growth rate exceeded the 6.2 percent targeted for the year, and although inflation remained high, it was kept below 10 percent.
The industrial sector showed a reasonable development but agriculture slowed down because of the prolonged dry season. Indonesia's non-oil exports, which fell in the beginning of the year made impressive gains in the closing months. Imports rose but this was largely prompted by the increase in investment commitments by local and foreign companies. Indonesia's foreign exchange reserves also increased to a level capable of financing up to five months of imports.
The stock markets also showed encouraging development during the year, reflecting both the confidence of investors and the increasing efficiency of the bourses.
"Overall, I can say that the economic forces in our society have continued to grow and are capable of tapping every opportunity presented to them," Soeharto said. (emb)