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