President Joko Widodo delivered his annual state of the nation address on the floor of the Consultative People Assembly (MPR) on August 16, 2017, one day before celebrating the nation's 72nd Independence Day. The annual speech usually reviews the government's achievements of the past year. It further outlines their goal for the coming year.
President Joko Widodo in tradtional South Sulawesi garb, after delivering the 2017 State of the Nation (ANTARA FOTO/Akbar Nugroho Gumay)
Jokowi, as he is popularly known, addressed the issues of the nations diversity and the achievement of its people. It further warns of Indonesia's dependency on the natural resources sector. Here are some other the highlights of the speech:
Indonesia must abandon the negative mentality of bickering, framing and attacking each other. He blames colonial attitudes for the low self esteem and pessimistic views, and asks that Indonesians build a strong cultural foundation. To strive for unity in dealing with a complex and increasingly extremist world.
The government will renew focus on economic equality, fighting poverty and reducing unemployment. He cites a modest decrease in people living under the poverty line, from 28.59 million (Mar 2015) to 27.77 million (Mar 2017), and improvement to the Gini Coeficcient to 0.393 (Mar 2017) from 0.414 (Sept 2014).
The government increased budget transfers to the village levels (Dana Desa), to Rp 60 trillion (approx USD 4.5 billion) in 2017. These funds are to be used by local governments to give basic infrastructure such as drinking water.
The nation has reached 92% electrification on March 2017. He congratulated the people of Wogalirit Village in Sikka, East Nusa Tenggara, who finally after 72 years of independence have access to electricity. Jokowi has set a target of 97% electrification by 2019.
To support micro, small and medium enterprises, the government has extended loans totalling Rp 94.4 trillion (approx USD 7 billion) in 2016, and set the Credit for Business (Kredit Usaha Rakyat - KUR) rate at 9%.
Indonesia's Human Development Index (HDI) has increased from 69.90 in 2014 to 70.18 in 2016, which places Indonesia as a high HDI country. Jokowi credits government social programs as a factor for the increase. These include Kartu Indonesia Sehat (Indonesian Health Card - subsidized health care), Kartu Indonesia Pintar (Indonesian Smart Card - tuition subsidies for poor children), Jaminan Kesehatan Nasional (National Healthcare insurance), and Pemberian Makanan Tambahan (Supplemental food for Mothers and Children).
Jokowi thanked the DPR on recently passing law on Financial Information Access for Taxation, and Automatic Exchange of Information, and mentions it as a way to bolster the national budget, as well as fighting corruption.
Further, the government continues their attempt to deregulate the economy. Having released no less than 15 economic policy packages since 2015, Indonesia has seen modest increase in their Ease of Doing Business rankings. It has climbed from 106th in 2016 to 91st in 2017. He also mentioned the recent increase of Indonesian sovereign debt to investment grade by the big 3 ranking agencies, S&P, Moody's and Fitch.
Sources:
https://tirto.id/teks-lengkap-pidato-kenegaraan-presiden-jokowi-cuFy
http://www.thejakartapost.com/news/2017/08/16/electrification-on-track-jokowi.html
Jokowi, as he is popularly known, addressed the issues of the nations diversity and the achievement of its people. It further warns of Indonesia's dependency on the natural resources sector. Here are some other the highlights of the speech:
Indonesia must abandon the negative mentality of bickering, framing and attacking each other. He blames colonial attitudes for the low self esteem and pessimistic views, and asks that Indonesians build a strong cultural foundation. To strive for unity in dealing with a complex and increasingly extremist world.
The government will renew focus on economic equality, fighting poverty and reducing unemployment. He cites a modest decrease in people living under the poverty line, from 28.59 million (Mar 2015) to 27.77 million (Mar 2017), and improvement to the Gini Coeficcient to 0.393 (Mar 2017) from 0.414 (Sept 2014).
The government increased budget transfers to the village levels (Dana Desa), to Rp 60 trillion (approx USD 4.5 billion) in 2017. These funds are to be used by local governments to give basic infrastructure such as drinking water.
The nation has reached 92% electrification on March 2017. He congratulated the people of Wogalirit Village in Sikka, East Nusa Tenggara, who finally after 72 years of independence have access to electricity. Jokowi has set a target of 97% electrification by 2019.
To support micro, small and medium enterprises, the government has extended loans totalling Rp 94.4 trillion (approx USD 7 billion) in 2016, and set the Credit for Business (Kredit Usaha Rakyat - KUR) rate at 9%.
Indonesia's Human Development Index (HDI) has increased from 69.90 in 2014 to 70.18 in 2016, which places Indonesia as a high HDI country. Jokowi credits government social programs as a factor for the increase. These include Kartu Indonesia Sehat (Indonesian Health Card - subsidized health care), Kartu Indonesia Pintar (Indonesian Smart Card - tuition subsidies for poor children), Jaminan Kesehatan Nasional (National Healthcare insurance), and Pemberian Makanan Tambahan (Supplemental food for Mothers and Children).
Jokowi thanked the DPR on recently passing law on Financial Information Access for Taxation, and Automatic Exchange of Information, and mentions it as a way to bolster the national budget, as well as fighting corruption.
Further, the government continues their attempt to deregulate the economy. Having released no less than 15 economic policy packages since 2015, Indonesia has seen modest increase in their Ease of Doing Business rankings. It has climbed from 106th in 2016 to 91st in 2017. He also mentioned the recent increase of Indonesian sovereign debt to investment grade by the big 3 ranking agencies, S&P, Moody's and Fitch.
Sources:
https://tirto.id/teks-lengkap-pidato-kenegaraan-presiden-jokowi-cuFy
http://www.thejakartapost.com/news/2017/08/16/electrification-on-track-jokowi.html
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