India's Kalam points RI toward science and technology

The Jakarta Post , Jakarta | Wed, 11/21/2007 11:27 AM

Irawaty Wardany, The Jakarta Post, Jakarta

Former Indian president AJP Abdul Kalam shared at a science conference in Indonesia on Tuesday his country's experiences and successes integrating science and technology with economic growth.

Kalam said he wanted to share his experiences with the republic and its scientists because, ""there are many similarities between Indonesia and India in terms of ethnic, religious, language and cultural diversity"".

Speaking at the 9th National Congress of the Indonesian Institute of Sciences (LIPI), he said under his leadership India had identified five core competency areas.

These areas included agriculture and food processing; education and health care; information and communication technology; infrastructure; and self-reliance in basic technologies.

He said all areas were inter-related and had to be moved in a coordinated way.

""During my presidency, I evolved a system called Providing Urban Amenities in Rural Area (PURA),"" Kalam said.

""PURA is a system that (involves a) well-balanced habitat that can be cherished for great bio-diversity and greenery.

""It involves growth of local talent, with the addition of technology and above all the potential of large-scale value-added employment generation.""

He said PURA's byproduct was ""a minimized migration from rural to urban areas and promoted reverse migration"".

Kalam said there were four types of PURA: plain terrain PURA, hill PURA, coastal PURA and desert PURA.

""Indonesia may have to design and develop more coastal and plain terrain PURA.""

He said plain terrain and coastal PURA might be in a region of 20,000 to 100,000 populations or a cluster of 20 to 30 villages.

Each PURA cluster he said would emphasize agro-processing, development of rural craftsmanship, dairy, silk production and fishing, as well as fish processing for coastline regions.

""This will enhance the non-farm revenue for the rural sector, based on the competitive advantage of the region,"" Kalam said.

""It is also essential that the rural economy be driven by renewable energies such as solar, wind and bio-fuel, along with the conversion of municipal waste into power.""

Kalam said with these approaches, the core competencies in the rural sector would be harnessed for sustainable development of the economy as a whole.

""India's economy is now growing with an annual GDP of 8 to 9 percent.

""Very soon, we will be reaching the target of 10 percent GDP growth rate,"" he said.

The conference was officially opened by Vice President Jusuf Kalla. Kalla -- Page 4

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