Firms ‘should prioritize local market’

Heavy handedness: Police forcibly push one student protester into a vehicle during a demonstration in Surabaya, East Java, on Tuesday. Students, mainly from Airlangga University, protested the visit of President Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono to Surabaya and put barricades on the road leading to their campus. JP/Wahyoe Boediwardhana President Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono appealed to businesspeople to prioritize the domestic market during his protest-marred lectures at the Surabaya Institute of Technology (ITS) Tuesday.

“We have to admit that economic distribution is still not even. That’s why businesses should not necessarily be export-oriented, because our 230 million population is a significant market,” he said as quoted by Antara.

In front of students, lecturers and East Java administration officials at Graha ITS, the President said economic ventures should heed regional interests and domestic funding resources.

“Efforts should be made to keep debt declining and the debt rate against GDP must be kept in balance. The defense industry should also be well managed at home,” he said.

He said Indonesia opted for an economic system of what he called an eco-social market economy.

“We are building a strong economy which growth at around 6 to 7 percent. We are looking to build a balanced economy between islands, even distribution between rich and poor and an economy that poses no hazards to the environment,” he said.

With that kind of economy, Indonesia, he believed, would become an advanced country in the 21st century. The 21st century has 90 years left, but “we cannot wait that long for advancement”.

“Our target is that advancement will take place in 15 years, not only in the economy but in competitiveness, innovation, legal affairs, social justice, defense and international diplomacy,” he said.

He said people should not be skeptical about his 15-year expectation, citing past events to which the government succeeded in finding solutions and which might have been beyond people’s expectations.

“For example, the Aceh conflict lasted for 30 years … it was difficult to predict that it would end peacefully.

“We could not have got through the global crisis … or in soccer, we indeed have potential,” he was referring to the Indonesian team that reached the semifinals in the ongoing AFF Cup with perfect results by winning all three matches in the group stage.

After the speech, the President, accompanied by First Lady Kristiani Herawati, inaugurated the Robotika building and Energy Center on the campus.

Outside the campus, students claiming to be members of the Indonesian Students Executive Board (BEM) of the Surabaya-Madura area staged a rally to demand that the President seriously pay attention to several big cases that had recently drawn public attention.

The protesters demanded a thorough investigation into the Bank Century and Gayus cases and the Sidoarjo mudflow disaster as well welfare guarantees and legal protection for Indonesian migrant workers abroad.

“We also ask the government to be self-managed in energy and nationalize state assets,” a protester said.

The rally turned violent after the police forcibly dispersed the protestors and arrested two.

Dozens of students, mostly from Airlangga University, pelted a police truck with stones and blockaded
Jl. Airlangga in front of the university’s campus by setting four tires ablaze on the road, demanding the release of their friends.

Eyewitnesses said that 25 students from the university were protesting when a truck-load of riot squad personnel arrived and dispersed the protesters. Police officers also fired three warning shots to scare away the protesters.  

Most students managed to escape onto the campus, leaving behind the two students who were arrested.

No details were immediately available on the identities of the arrested protesters.

During his three-day tour of Surabaya, the President also visited an agency for migrant workers’ training and placement in Sidoarjo. The visit will be followed with the launch of a low-interest loan program for workers Wednesday.