T

he National Economic Committee (KEN) and the National Innovation Committee (KIN) — state think tanks established in April to support Indonesia’s development process — delivered their first recommendations to President Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono on Thursday.

KEN chairman Chairul Tanjung and KIN chairman Zuhal presented the recommendations in a fully attended Cabinet plenary meeting opened by the President, who said the government would “pay serious attention” to the recommendations made by the two committees and adopt them to help improve the government’s policies.

“The output and products that you make, therefore, should be in the form of policy recommendations, not academic papers. I hope your inputs are constructive and achievable, and can help the government meet our targets with policy action,” Yudhoyono said.

KIN presented 15 recommendations, four of which were approved by the President, and will be followed by feasibility studies conducted by the associated ministries or other relevant executive government agencies, Zuhal said in a press conference held after the three-hour meeting.

“Our first recommendation is that we develop biotechnology-based food products. Our country has the world’s second largest range of biodiversity, which means that we have huge potential to develop a biotechnology-based food industry,” he said.

Zuhal added that KIN also recommended that state pharmaceutical manufacturer Biofarma is given greater stimulus to become a major global vaccine producer, saying it had the capability and financial capacity to do so.

“We also recommend IT-based defense and security, such as by developing GIS (geographic information systems), and that the government establish centers for our creative small and medium industries to enable them to develop and compete at the global level,” he said.

Chaerul said it would be a good idea for the government to develop a state balance sheet, which would provide thorough information on state assets and liabilities instead of mere revenues and expenditures regularly specified in the annual state budget. “It is one of our ideas related to the nation’s financial reform,” he said.

KIN said it was important to develop new regional economic hubs to draw people to emerging regions and to improve connectivity and transportation problems to support development.

KIN also recommended establishing distribution centers in regions to control the prices of goods that are commonly much more expensive outside Java.

KIN’s members include some university rectors and former ministers, while KEN’s members are prominent Indonesian economists and business persons. Their initial mandate is valid until 2014.

The two committees were expected to cooperate to support Indonesia’s desire for technology and knowledge-based economic development, Zuhal said.