President Jokowi Appreciates Public Support for COVID-19 Handling, Economic Recovery

President Jokowi (second right) accompanied by Coordinating Minister for Economic Affairs Airlangga Hartarto (right), Cabinet Secretary Pramono Anung (second left), and Minister of Finance Sri Mulyani (left), attends the 2023 National Coordination Meeting for the Transition of COVID-19 Handling and National Economic Recovery (PCPEN), at the AA Maramis Building, Central Jakarta, Thursday (01/26). (Photo by: PR of Cabinet Secretariat/Oji)

President Joko “Jokowi” Widodo expressed his appreciation to the public for supporting the Government’s efforts in handling COVID-19 pandemic and recovering the economy.

“Active public participation in handing the pandemic and [recovering] the economy really helps us. We must appreciate the participation because we have received support from all sides. Business sector, the communities, all made actions,” he said during the 2023 National Coordination Meeting for the Transition of COVID-19 Handling and National Economic Recovery (PCPEN), at the AA Maramis Building, Central Jakarta, Thursday (01/26).

On that occasion, the President also expressed gratitude to his ranks both working for central and regional governments for their synergy and hard work in COVID-19 handling and national economic recovery.

He also added that curbing the pandemic is very challenging since the country must also face some other challenges in economic sector at the same time.

“It’s a very tough challenge; it’s a serious problem that we must face and we don’t have a standard or a benchmark to rely on. We have no experience in handling the pandemic,” he stated.

The Head of State went on to say that Indonesia in 2022 had managed to achieve positive economic growth amidst those challenges thanks to support and collaboration from all sides.

Furthermore, he called on the Government to be vigilant in drawing up policies particularly in the economic sectors though Indonesia’s economy is currently sound.

“We’re in a favorable condition. In the third quarter, it [the economy] grew by 5.72 [percent], and the year-on-year [growth] in 2022 was projected to reach 5.3 [percent], as mentioned by Minister Airlangga earlier. I think if we can achieve it, it will be a huge achievement,” he added.

For the record, Coordinating Minister for Economic Affairs Airlangga Hartarto had projected that Indonesia’s economic growth in 2022 would reach 5.3 percent year-on-year.

“COVID-19 is under control both at national and global levels. The rate of cases is slowing down but new variants are still emerging. We carry on economic recovery. Indonesia’s economy grew convincingly above 5 percent throughout 2022, and it is estimated that year-on-year growth can achieve 5.3 percent,” he stated. (FID/MAY/UN) (RAS/MMB)