RI economy 5th largest in 2020
RI economy 5th largest in 2020
JAKARTA (JP): Indonesia will be the fifth major economic power in the world, based on purchasing power parity, by the year 2020 after the United States, China, Japan and India, Coordinating Minister for Production and Distribution Hartarto said yesterday.
"Economic progress and the vast availability of economic resources, coupled with an increasing role in the international scene, make Indonesia a prospective partner for other countries in the world," Hartarto told a seminar on India and Indonesia -- Partners in Progress at the Jakarta International Trade Center.
Dozens of top Indonesian and Indian business executives attended the seminar, which was conducted in conjunction with the 5th meeting of the India-Indonesia Joint Business Council.
Hartarto said the tremendous progress of the Indonesian economy, which has been proven by steady economic growth, has brought the country to the brink of becoming one of the newly industrialized countries.
The economic growth rate during the first long-term (25-year) development program reached an average of 6.8 percent per annum.
He said that the growth rate, which was much faster than the population growth during the same period, consequently supported the increase of per capita income.
The population growth rate was recorded at 2.3 percent per annum in the 1970 to 1980 period, which declined to 1.7 percent in 1980 to 1990 and to 1.6 percent in 1993.
Indonesia's Sixth Five-Year Development Plan which ends in 1999 has set a target of reaching a per capita income of US$1,280, an average economic growth rate of 7.1 percent per annum and non-oil export expansion of 16.8 percent a year.
He added that the country's goal by 2018 is to reach a per capita income of $3,500, an annual economic growth of 7 percent and a non-oil export increase of 16.5 percent per year.
Hartarto suggested the seminar participants create and deepen business synergy to boost economic ties between the Indonesia and India and urged Indonesian companies to increase exports to India to balance the two-way trade.
The trade between the two countries has so far favored India. Indonesia's exports to India, for example, increased from $99.9 million in 1993 to $277.7 million in 1994 and $341.8 million in the January to November period of 1995.
Indonesia's imports from India were recorded at $335.4 million in 1993, $318.2 million in 1994 and $407.5 million in the January to November period of last year. (kod)