REPUBLIKA.CO.ID, JAKARTA -- Indonesia's economy will find it difficult to grow sustainably at seven percent without adequate infrastructure.

"We are aware that although Indonesia's economic growth has been good at five or six percent, it will not be sustainable because demand cannot be balanced with supply due to the lack of infrastructure. Thus, we cannot grow beyond a certain point," Minister of Finance Bambang Brodjonegoro said on Thursday, April 2.

Brodjonegoro noted that Indonesia lacked infrastructure because the existing ones had been damaged or neglected. The construction of new infrastructures has been limited and will not be adequate for the future.

Soekarno-Hatta International airport, for example, still cannot compete with Singapore's Changi airport in terms of passenger services.

The trans Java toll road projects have yet to be finished, although they had been planned since the New Order government.

"We are lagging behind in the infrastructure sector. Some infrastructure facilities have been damaged and no longer serve the purpose. Some are newly built but are still limited. However, there has been an extraordinary surge in demand triggered by economic activities, but this demand cannot be met," he explained.

Therefore, Indonesia has emphasized the importance of infrastructure development for boosting regional economic growth in Asia.

During his speech at the Boao Forum for Asia's (BFA's) Annual Conference 2015 on Saturday, President Joko Widodo said Asia has been facing four challenges.

"The keys to overcome them are internal and external stability and infrastructure," he noted.

Jokowi, as the President is popularly addressed, explained that the four challenges were improving the quality of people's life, maintaining sustainable development and growth, security, and employment.

According to him, with good infrastructure the economy will automatically grow faster.

"We can take lessons from past when Asia suffered because of colonization. With struggle and hard work, economic centers began to move from the west to the east. However, we must continue to learn from the west with regard to their technology without necessarily shedding our identities," he said.

He expressed hope that development will not slow down and that investors will continue to show interest in countries in Asia.

President Jokowi, as one of the speakers at the Boao Forum, spoke at a session titled, "Asia's New Feature: Towards a Community of Common Destiny."

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