From BRIC to BRIIC: Dreams of Indonesia’s Future
ltl...@hotmail.com
"Indonesia's Coordinating Economic Minister Hatta Rajasa recently
presented a government strategy for Indonesia to become the world's
10th largest economy, with average annual per capita income of
$10,000, by 2025. To achieve this goal, real GDP growth is supposed to
rise above seven percent per annum. Alongside overall economic
expansion and wealth creation, regional imbalances, social
inequalities and levels of poverty are also expected to diminish under
this plan.
Beyond pipe dreams
These hopes rest on something more than mere dreams. Indonesia, after
all, is the world's fourth most populous country and already its 19th
largest economy. The sprawling archipelago is rich in natural
resources - particularly oil, gas, coal, tin, copper, lumber, rubber,
palm oil and various other mineral and agricultural commodities - and
in human capital, with its population of 230 million. Exports are
strong, estimated at $150 billion in 2010, and investment in the
country in 2011 is expected to rise by 15 percent, with real GDP
growth exceeding six percent. Inflation and budget deficits at the
governmental level have also been kept under control in the past
years.
These seemingly healthy macroeconomic indicators are also embedded
within broadly stable and supportive political and social conditions.
After more than 30 years of centralized authoritarian rule under
Suharto, from 1966-1998, Indonesia is now a fully consolidated
democracy, with genuinely competitive popular elections for parliament
held in 1999, 2004 and 2009 and for the presidency in 2004 and 2009.
Decentralization since 1999 has devolved considerable fiscal and
regulatory powers to officials reporting to locally elected executives
and assemblies. This shift from centralized authoritarianism to
decentralized democracy has also reconfigured the connection between
business and politics. Instead of monopolies and cartels in the hands
of Suharto's children and close cronies, a broader oligarchy of
politically connected businessmen now compete locally and nationally
for access to state power and for concessions, contracts, franchises
and regulatory and tax breaks. These increasingly influential business
elites also share a broad interest in continuing economic growth."
rst0wxyz
must be really very disappointed since the Jasmine revolution did not
materialize. The Chinese people are too busy making money to worry
about revolution. They decided to leave revolution to Sun Yat-sen
the
rabble rouser.