Indonesia remains poor

Indonesia remains poor

There is good and bad news in the latest Human Development Report. It stated that Indonesia's human development index rose one level to 111th place out of 177 countries, but the country remains poor despite its abundant natural resources.

The National Development Planning Board (Bappenas) has thus proposed the establishment of a social development fund to speed up human development.

We should support the idea, even though some people consider it a government ploy to improve its image.

Bappenas said the fund would come from profits from the exploration of natural resources, the privatization of state enterprises, money left over from the restructuring fund and from taxes paid by wealthy people and companies.

We, however, doubt that the fund would be used properly as Indonesia's foreign debt is so huge, with much of it evaporating due to rampant corruption, which no government official dares to stop.

Thus, instead of focusing on collecting funds, the government should prioritize the eradication of corruption, collusion and nepotism and the creation of a conducive investment climate.

This daily suggests that the idea of collecting a social development fund be discussed transparently to find the best formula to improve the quality of our people. -- Bisnis Indonesia, Jakarta