Remarks of President of the Republic of Indonesia at the Launch of the 2025-2045 National Long-Term Development Plan at the Djakarta Theater in DKI Jakarta Province, June 15, 2023
Bismillahirrahmanirrahim.
Assalamu’alaikum warahmatullahi wabarakatuh,
Good morning,
May peace be upon us all,
Om swastiastu,
Namo buddhaya,
Greetings of Virtue.
Ladies and Gentlemen,
How are you?
How are you?
How are you?
How are you today?
Did you have breakfast? [Audience; Not yet] Me, too!
Are you ready? Today, I would like to share something. I don’t want to give bikes, nor Coldplay tickets. Don’t ask me one. I would like to share something special, something more special. Can you guess? I would like to share vision, big dream, big aspiration of our nation.
Earlier, on my way from the Palace to here, I wondered what Indonesia would become, how Indonesia would be in 2045, its 100th year of independence. I remembered that the Djakarta Theater was the most magnificent building around 1970s. At that time, I had never been to Jakarta. I was in Solo and still living by the riverbank as my house was demolished. I remembered that in 1970 I still lived in the rural area.
But in this year, 2023, I stand here as the President of the Republic of Indonesia. What does it mean? Significant changes can happen in 50 years if we dare, if we are willing, and if we have the courage [to change it]. We must have ambition, courage, do the hard work to make leaps.
Ladies and Gentlemen,
Indonesia’s demographic bonus will reach its peak in 2030. The working-age population will reach 68.3 percent of total population. This will happen only once in every country. This momentum will be a big chance, but it also could be a chaotic situation, if we could not manage it well.
I noticed that there is a country where jobs are scarce, people with master’s degree who should have been teachers are working as janitors.
A country in Africa had reached the peak of its demographic bonus in 2015. However, in seven years the number of unemployment jumped to 33.6 percent. I do not need to mention the country name. I am sure that all of you know about it. Of course, we do not want to experience the same thing.
To that end, it is important to work hard, to work hard in order to seize these opportunities. We must have not only a plan, but a tactical plan. The vision, strategy must also be tactical considering that we are competing with other countries. We must also have a grand strategy that is tactical. Previously, we didn’t have one. But today, I was informed by Minister of Ministry of National Development Planning/Head of National Development Planning Agency (Bappenas) that those are more tactical and detailed.
Once again, because we are facing competition with other countries, we can no longer use absurd terms including “development”, “strengthening”, or “empowerment” like we used to. Development; which aspect will we develop? Strengthening; which aspect will we strengthen? Empowerment; which aspect will we empower? We have to make it to the point. It must be tactical in order to realize Golden Indonesia 2045. Once again, we need tactical plans, tactical vision, and a grand strategy that is also tactical. And then we must have the courage to take the action.
In addition to realizing the vision of Golden Indonesia 2045, the vision to be the world’s 5th largest economy by 2045, I have noticed the calculation and estimation from the Bappenas, the McKinsey, the IMF, the World Bank. The results are almost similar.
However, the challenges are not easy. Our current Gross National Income (GNI) is at USD5,000 something per capita. Is it right, Minister of Finance? It is USD5,030 per capita. In 2045, it is our estimation, our GNI will reach around USD23,000 until USD30,300 per capita. It is a big leap.
Our current poverty rate is at 9.57 percent. Although the figure is under 10 percent, it is still a high figure. In 2045, the figure is estimated to reach 0.5 percent until 0.8 percent. Once again, it is not an easy task.
There are at least three main things that will become a reference [for achieving the vision of Golden Indonesia 2045].
Firstly, the stability of the nation and state. The stability of this nation must be maintained. Not a single country has succeeded in achieving prosperity when the conditions are not stable. Show me a country where it can achieve prosperity under unstable condition. When a country is divided, it is hard to achieve prosperity. When a country is in conflict, it is impossible to achieve prosperity. When a country is full of continuous turmoils, it will prevent the realization of prosperity. Once again, stability is vital.
Secondly, sustainability and continuity in leading the country. Leadership [in leading a country] is like a structure of education; from first step, second step, then the third step which is high school. The fourth step must be a “college” step. Do not move backward to the first step. Do you agree with me? Leadership is like a relay race, not a gas station meter which is always ‘start from zero’. Do we want it like that? Nope. If you have attended kindergarten, elementary school, middle school, the next step is high school, bachelor’s degree, then master’s degree and PhD. It should be like that. Don’t go back and forth.
Furthermore, Indonesia-centric development is vital. Industrial downstreaming that could advance Indonesia is also vital. If the downstreaming is successful, we will leap forward to build, for example, mineral downstreaming or an EV battery ecosystem. In the past, what we exported was only raw, nickel was only exported raw. It should be in the form of cathode, precursor, or lithium battery. How can we build bigger ecosystem? It is not an easy task. We have to work in detail, inspect to the ground.
Related plantations; the products of plantations should not only be exported raw. Crude palm oil (CPO), why do we not produce semi-finished and finished goods from it? It could be soap, cosmetics, and others. We have tremendous potential on seaweed, but we should not only export raw. Now, seaweed can be used as biofuel. I recently saw it, and I was amazed to see it in Germany. This means that there is huge potential, yet the challenges are also huge.
Related to the development of the IKN, many people asked me, “What is the purpose, Sir?” I would like to say that 56 percent of Indonesia’s population is in Java island and 58 percent of Indonesia’s gross domestic product (GDP) is also in Java island. Where are other 17 thousand islands? Jakarta is already burdened with excessive congestion. Jakarta serves not only as an educational city, but also a tourist destination, a business hub, an economic center, and a Governmental city. Everywhere we go, we encounter heavy traffic.
Therefore, the burden must be reduced, equity must be done. Not in a year, two years, three years, four years, five years to come, but we have to see far beyond that. Therefore, downstreaming and Nusantara Capital project must be strengthened, must be continued, must be increased.
Third, human resources, which is the great strength of our country. We should not focus only on quantity, but we also have to be concern on the quality of our human resources including physical fitness, skills, productive and discipline characters. This is what we have to fix completely, including mastery of science and technology. For the example, South Korea. It can escape from the middle-income trap in just eight years. In 1987, the GDP was still at USD3,500. However, eight years later in 1995, it jumped to USD11,800. This kind of leap is something we should emulate and follow. Why? Because its high-quality human resources focus on technology and productivity.
Ladies and Gentlemen.
Golden Indonesia 2045 cannot be achieved automatically. However, it needs to be well-planned, requires the same focus, guidance, and direction. Therefore, I would express my hope that the launched RPJPN (the National Long-Term Development Plan) can serve as our collective guideline. What is our guideline? It is outlined there. And regardless of how good a plan is, it will be in vain without effective execution. It holds no meaning without proper action.
To that end, in order to achieve Golden Indonesia 2045, smart execution is highly required. It demands smart execution, leadership from strong leaders who are courageous, adept at finding solutions, and have the audacity to take action. We can’t discuss presidential elections in this forum; we can do that in another forum.
That concludes my speech on this auspicious occasion. By saying bismillahirrahmanirrahim, I hereby officially launch the 2025-2045 National Long-Term Development Plan.
I thank you,
Wassalamu’alaikum warahmatullahi wabarakatuh.
(AP/LW)