ISEI faces greater challenges

ISEI faces greater challenges

The Jakarta Post, Jakarta

The Indonesian Economists Association (ISEI) is a professional organization that groups together thousands of economists across the country.

Its members work in various fields, such as in the bureaucracy, the academic field as well as the private sector.

Since its establishment in 1955, ISEI has been transformed into a prestigious association, thanks in part to the fact that a number of its members often fill top positions in the bureaucracy.

As an organization, as stipulated in its statutes, ISEI has three main objectives: putting together economists across the nation in one institution to devote themselves to the betterment of the country, developing economics as a science to be used for the benefit of the country, and developing the knowledge and skills of its members.

As part of its contribution to the development of the country, ISEI has long conveyed its thoughts, input and recommendations to the government on how the economy would be best run, based on economic analysis.

Input is often in the form of a statement issued after the completion of each of its congresses.

Anwar Nasution, a ISEI cochairman who is also senior deputy governor at the central bank, said on the sidelines of the 15th Congress held in Batu, Malang, East Java, that the current economic conditions provided greater challenges for the members of ISEI to find solutions than in the past.

"We never had such domestic debts in the past or had to think of graduating from the International Monetary Fund's tutelage. Economists are now forced to come up with solutions to these problems, which are tough ones," Anwar said. --JP