Decentralization key to development planning: Minister

JAKARTA (JP): State Minister of National Development Planning Ginandjar Kartasasmita said yesterday that the decentralization of development planning should be boosted in order to achieve the objectives of the national development program.

"We have learned from other countries' and our own experiences in the past that effective development planning should be carried out with greater involvement of provincial and local planning agents," Ginandjar said in his keynote speech at the launching of the Magister Program for "Planning and Public Policy" at the University of Indonesia yesterday.

Ginandjar, who is also chairman of the National Development Planning Board, said that decentralized concepts are more effective because they focus on regional approaches, as compared to a sectoral approach which tends to be the result of centralized planning.

"Indonesia is a very big country and we have limited capabilities to make good plans for each part of the country," he said.

He said that the involvement of local planning agents is important because they are more aware of the particular needs of their regions.

Ginandjar acknowledged, however, that it takes time to implement decentralized planning owing to a lack of professional planners at the local level and difficulties in overcoming bureaucratic attitudes.

Therefore, according to Ginandjar, provincial and local planning agents should improve the quality and quantity of their planning staffs.

"Even in my office, we still need more qualified staff members to handle a lot of jobs," he said.

Without elaborating he confirmed that some bureaucrats from certain sectors are still unwilling to implement a decentralized approach.

Ginandjar said that in line with increasing globalization trends, coupled with expanding international and intra-regional trade and the development of technology, the dominant role in free market economies is shifting from the government to the private sector.

In such circumstances, development planning must also be adjusted to take into account the new dominant segment of the economy.

"It suggests that the government cannot undertake direct or `imperative' intervention in the private sector. Instead, the government should indirectly support the private sector through certain measures like monetary or fiscal instruments," Ginandjar argued.

He particularly noted that the expansion of private participation in national development will force decision makers to improve transparency and the quality of plans.

"The key concept is the mobilization of private participation not only in the implementation of policies but also in the planning stage."

Meanwhile, academician Anwar Nasution, in his speech entitled "Government and Market Mechanisms Following the Economic Reforms since the 1980s", argued that despite deregulation, the government still has an active role in resource allocation within the Indonesian economy.

Anwar criticized that the objective of state intervention in the economy is often associated with rent seeking activities and patrimonialism.

"This is in contrast to Japan and other countries like Hong Kong, Taiwan and Singapore, where intervention is aimed mainly at maximizing long-term economic welfare," he contended.

He said that in the case of Indonesia, many strategic industries and projects are probably generating few pecuniary and technological benefits.

The government, according to Anwar, distributes the rents as give aways without demanding responsibility from their recipients or penalizing poor performers. (alo)