Two trategies suggested for development

Two trategies suggested for development

JAKARTA (JP): Ginandjar Kartasasmita, a senior cabinet
minister, is advocating both non-interventionism and active
government policies in Indonesia; the first for the modern
economic sector and the second for the traditional sector.

The development strategy for the two must be different because
the economic structure and social order separate those who are
living in the modern advanced sector and those who are lagging
behind in the traditional sector, Ginandjar said in Malang, East
Java, on Saturday.

For the modern economic sector, he is advocating minimum
government intervention but for the traditional sector, he
proposes an active government role in pushing development.

Ginandjar, the minister for national development planning, and
chairman of the powerful National Development Planning Board,
made the argument during his oration before a senate of
professors at the Brawijaya University, where he was awarded an
honorary doctoral degree in Administration Studies, Antara
reported.

His paper, entitled Empowering Society: An Administrative
Perspective, states that the government should allow the modern
sector to continue to progress because it is for the good of the
nation. The government should encourage improvement in
efficiency, productivity and the mastering of technology.

In the economic sector, he stated, this effort is best carried
out by giving freedom to those in the modern sector without too
much intervention or obstacles. The government should withdraw
from managing fields that the private sector could handle better.

The government's role should be limited, to ensuring that free
competition does not lead to the domination of the powerful over
the weak, he added.

The government should also prevent excessive exploitation of
natural resources by the modern sector, leaving nothing for the
traditional sector.

The approach to the traditional sector is different. Here the
government has a duty to bring the people, who are economically
backward, into the modern world, Ginandjar said.

He did not give any specifics, saying that the strategy still
needs to be developed further: How to empower the people so that
their capacities and capabilities are improved and at the same
time they will help empower the country's overall economy.

While advocating an active government role, Ginandjar also
underlined the need to change the image of Indonesia's
bureaucracy.

The traditional, paternalistic and feudalistic role of the
bureaucracy must be changed, so that people are not treated as
objects of development, which need to be handled through
"development projects", he said.

Ginandjar said the bureaucracy must base its views on the idea
that people have the power to improve their own lives, if only
they were given the trust and chance to do so.

In his 32-page oration, he said that to achieve sound
development, the bureaucracy needs to improve its services to the
people, which can only be done by allowing a more decentralized
and autonomous governmental system on the regional level.

Ginandjar, 54 years old, was awarded the degree by Rector
Hasyim Basoeni, making it his fourth in the last two years.

He received an honorary doctoral degree in 1994, in economics,
from the Takushoku University in Tokyo and in public services
from the Northeastern University in Boston, U.S. Last month, he
was awarded an honorary doctoral degree in development
administration studies, by the Gadjah Mada University in
Yogykarta.

Among the top officials present during his speech were
Coordinating Minister for People's Welfare Azwar Anas, Minister
of Education and Culture Wardiman Djojonegoro, State Minister of
Agrarian Affairs Soni Harsono, Minister of Manpower Abdul Latief,
Minister of Transportation Haryanto Dhanutirto, Army Chief of
Staff Gen. R. Hartono and Air Force Chief of Staff Marshall Rilo
Pambudi. (pwn)