REPUBLIKA.CO.ID, JAKARTA -- President Joko Widodo (Jokowi) quipped and mentioned that there was something wrong with Indonesia's exports that were still inferior to neighboring countries in ASEAN. Jokowi said Indonesia's exports in 2017 reached US$145 billion, and still lost to Thailand which reached US$231 billion, Malaysia US$184 billion, and Vietnam which reached US$160 billion.

He noted that this was all the responsibility of Trade Ministry to increase Indonesia's exports.

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"This big country of Indonesia is inferior to Thailand in terms of exports. With enormous resources and human resources, we are losing. There is something wrong and something has to be changed," the president remarked in a speech to open the working meeting of the Ministry of Trade at the State Palace here on Wednesday.

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Jokowi reiterated that there was a mistake that must be addressed so that Indonesia's export is not inferior to the neighboring countries whose population and resources are still below Indonesia. The head of state then reminded the Minister of Trade Enggartiasto Lukita to conduct an evaluation of what should be done in increasing Indonesian exports.

Jokowi at the beginning of his speech also said that economic growth is only driven by two things, namely investment and exports.

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