SBY outlines new targets for economic growth and poverty

Indonesia is targeting an economic growth rate of 7 percent and a reduction in unemployment and poverty by 5 and 8 percent respectively by 2014, President Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono said here Thursday.

As he opened the two-day National Summit, the President said the targeted economic growth was expected to help create jobs and subsequently reduce unemployment from its current rate of 8 percent to between 5 and 6 percent by 2014.

"And with hard work, we are aiming to cut the poverty rate from the current 14 percent to between 8 and 10 percent *by 2014*," he said before 14,000 summit participants including representatives of stakeholders in the country's development, government officials and the private sector.

He said that investment was needed to facilitate economic growth and, in order to reach the 7 percent target, Indonesia required a total investment of about Rp 2,100 trillion (US$219 billion) per year for the next five years.

Financing, he said, would be prioritized from the domestic private sector as well as from government spending.

The President told senior government officials, who were among those participating in the summit, to create a more investment-friendly climate to attract investors.

He said the "secret" to achieving such targets included empowerment programs and low-interest loan schemes for micro and small businesses.

"We also need to develop the spirit of entrepreneurship. and boost innovations in the field of food, energy, transportation and medicine."