RI's competitiveness index improves : SBY

The Jakarta Post ,  Jakarta   |  Wed, 05/20/2009 9:26 PM  |  Business

Presidential candidate Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono said Wednesday that the competitiveness index of Indonesia had increased significantly, meaning that the country's products could compete with those from overseas.

“The country's competitiveness index has improved. For example, on the perception of easiness of doing business, Indonesia is at 129 this year, up from 154 a year ago,” Yudhoyono told businessmen during an economic dialogue with the Indonesian Chamber of Commerce (Kadin) at the Jakarta Theater on Wednesday.

He said that exports had contributed 1.3 percent to the overall domestic product value in 2009.
“Last year, exports contributed only 0.27 percent to the whole domestic product,” he said.

He said many problems, such as high economic costs and lack of infrastructure, had hampered the country boosting its economic growth.

“We need a lot of money to develop infrastructure. This year, we will allocate Rp 78 trillion (US$7.9 million) or 10 percent of the national budget [to improve facilities],” he said.

He admitted the government had found it difficult to allocate more funds to build infrastructure since it had allocated 20 of the budget for education. (naf)
 

 

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