Source: Antara News, August 16 2019 

For infrastructure outside 3T regions, the government is focusing on improvement of management, governance, and regulatory framework to support economic transformation

Joko Widodo

Jakarta (ANTARA) – Indonesian President Joko Widodo highlighted the need for infrastructure development and interregional connectivity and stressed on their pivotal role in the country’s transformation, particularly in the frontier, outermost and remote (3T) regions. “For infrastructure outside 3T regions, the government is focusing on improvement of management, governance, and regulatory framework to support economic transformation,” he said here Friday.

Delivering the government’s statement on the bill on the state budget for the 2020 fiscal year and its financial note at the House of Representatives (DPR) plenary session, Jokowi said that infrastructure development across all remote areas would focus on connectivity throughout the supply chain, connecting markets, and people’s production centers.

The sectors that would benefit from infrastructure development include agriculture, fishery, plantation, and industry, including micro, small, and medium enterprises, he said.

“We will also continue to develop the Mass Rapid Transit (MRT) and other mass transportation modes to make the entire transportation system in big cities more efficient, more pollution-free, and thoroughly connected,” President Jokowi said.

Another form of support in developing infrastructure will be through a creative scheme that consists of government-to-business cooperation (KPBU). Private sector participation in improving public infrastructure through the creative funding scheme will be conducted by consistently paying attention to value for money.

In the tourism sector, by 2020, the government is prioritizing the development of four tourist destinations in an inter-sectoral and integrated manner. “Those destinations are Lake Toba, Borobudur Temple, Labuan Bajo, and Mandalika,” he said.

Regarding the subsidies on fuel, electricity, and three-kilogram Liquefied Petroleum Gas (LPG) cannisters as well as fertilizers, he said the government would constantly be upgrading these services to effectively target the underprivileged sections of the population. This would help the underprivileged to maintain economic efficiency and competitiveness, as well as increase the productivity of farmers.

The President echoed the call for making use of Indonesia’s economic resources for a progressive leap in development.

“We will prove to the world that Indonesia deserves to be and is capable of becoming one of the world’s economic powers. We will show the world that Indonesia’s economy can thrive and at the same time ensure a sense of justice,” he stressed.

The government would materialize Indonesia’s economy in a way that would usher in prosperity to the entire population in Indonesia, he said, adding that the deliberations on the 2020 Bill were expected to be conducted constructively to make Indonesia an advanced, sovereign, and self-sufficient nation. (INE)

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Reporter: Rahmad Nasution
Editor: Fardah Assegaf
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