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AKARTA: Marking its 62nd anniversary, the University of Indonesia’s (UI) school of economics on Monday recognized the architect of the New Order’s economy, the late Widjojo Nitisastro, as the “father of Indonesian demography” for his contribution to population studies in the country.

Widjojo, considered one of the country’s greatest economists of the 20th century, received the acknowledgement for his pioneering work in integrating human development with the country’s development.

Subroto, a professor of economics, said that through his work, Widjojo had placed the Indonesian people at the heart of development policy in Indonesia.

“In 1970, he accurately predicted that Indonesia would be seeing a rejuvenation of its workforce in 2020, in which the rising ratio of people of productive ages to dependents would significantly boost the country’s economy,” the former mining and energy minister told a seminar on the demographic dividend on Monday.

The seminar, celebrating the 62nd anniversary of UI’s school of economics, was organized by the university’s institute of demography in cooperation with the National Population and Family Planning Agency (BKKBN), the United Nations Population Fund (UNFPA), the Indonesian Population Coalition and the Bimasena Club.

In 1957, Widjojo first revealed his population projections, which included the demographic dividend that Indonesia would face in 2020-2030, in his book titled Population Trends in Indonesia. This book was borne out of his dissertation while pursuing his PhD degree in economics at the University of California, Berkeley in the US. With his fellow economist, Nathan Keyfitz, Widjojo wrote his second book titled Population and Development in Indonesia in 1964.