Praiseworthy humility

Praiseworthy humility

Economic strength is an essential determinate of a nation's
international influence. For example, economic strength helped
make the United States an integral part of the world economy.

After Japan and Germany, the next economic powerhouse is
probably Southeast Asia. It seems paradoxical that countries like
Indonesia are growing. For example, in 1970, 63 percent of
Indonesia's total population lived below the poverty line, but in
1993, only 13.7 percent reportedly lived below the line.

Indonesia is one of the largest debtor nations in the world,
yet it was able to increase workers' wages as much as 30 percent
in 1994. Indonesia is in a transition from an agricultural-based
economy to an industrial base, this is illustrated by the
increasing contribution of the industrial sector towards GDP
growth. Up to 1995, the economy has been able to achieve 8.07
percent growth.

How huge would the Indonesian economy become if the state-
owned aircraft maker (IPTN) was able to penetrate the
international market? Already there's a prediction that based on
purchasing power parity, the Indonesian economy will be the fifth
largest in the world, after the U.S., China, Japan and India, in
2020.

At the moment, there are signs that Indonesia is on the way to
becoming a great economic power in Asia, though it may not be
easy to overtake other Asian economic powers like Japan and
China. However, despite this economic achievement, Indonesia
remains humble, an attitude which deserves praise.

BUHARI ABDU

Jakarta