REPUBLIKA.CO.ID, AMBON -- Indonesian President Joko Widodo, also known as Jokowi, underlined the need to focus on three aspects in anticipation of the global changes, namely, deregulation, accelerating infrastructure development and human resources.
"In anticipation of this, we have to make improvements in all sectors. There are now three things that we must continue to improve. These are deregulation, accelerated development of infrastructure and human resources," the president said when inaugurating the Merah Putih Bridge here on Monday.
He said the pace of the global changes happening currently was very brisk.
The President pointed out to last year's Greek economy crisis, and said Indonesia had prepared itself but soon the economic slowdown happened in China with the Yuan depreciating.
"There are more hard winds blowing when it comes to the anticipated hike in the Fed's interest rate in the United States," he said.
The President said at this time the government was deregulating various rules at the national and regional level that were hampering investments and business.
As a big country, he said Indonesia indeed needed to provide legal protection to investors which would encourage rapid economic growth.
The President pointed out that Indonesia now has 42,000 regulations of which more than 3,000 are problematic local regulations.
It means the rules were coming in the way of decision making.
"A rule has to encourage the people to make a fast move, not to trap them or inhibit growth," he said.
According to him, the current deregulation packages were aimed to eliminate any obstacles in the way of investments and business expansion and thus speed up development.
The President also focused on the global competition, and said the government was working to accelerate the pace of infrastructure development.
"In any country, poor infrastructure will not let the investment come in. Proper development across the regions was a prerequisite," the President said.
Jokowi also underlined the importance of human resource development, without which Indonesia cannot win in a globally competitive world.
Citing an example, the President said human resources in Maluku must participate in the ongoing development initiatives and not just remain mute spectators at a time when so much development was happening in the Masela block in the area.
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