T

he National Resilience Institute (Lemhanas) has written a book ahead of its golden anniversary that paints a bright future for the country, particularly in agriculture.

The institute, now under civilian management after restructuring in 2001, said the book, titled Scenarios for Indonesia 2045, was the result of discussions with experts and policymakers about Indonesia'€™s future.

Four experts from the institute are in charge of publishing the book.

Governor of the institute, Budi Susilo Soepandji, said at a press conference at Lemhanas headquarters in Central Jakarta that the book highlighted four scenarios for Indonesia to focus on that the institute deemed vital for the realization of Indonesia'€™s security in all sectors, especially agroindustry.

Under the first scenario is economic development. Indonesia is expected to grow into a developed country similar to most in Western Europe.

According to the institute, the driver for this development will be agroindustry, which is expected to boom in Indonesia as a result of improved technology.

'€œMembers of the middle-income bracket will grow both in cities and rural areas. Prosperity in remote areas will increase with the use of advanced technology [in agriculture],'€ said Didin Damanhuri, a member of the book team.

Didin said the intensive use of technology would enable the agroindustry to balance the manufacturing industry in major cities.

He said that growth in alternative industries, such as agro and marine, was a prerequisite for a healthy economy.

'€œSuch an industrial structure is found in most Western European countries,'€ he said.

The institute said that improved industrial structure would impact all sectors and improve economic prospects.

According to Lemhanas, an improved economy will result in more funding for security enhancement, through the procurement of military equipment and technology.

'€œOur military power will expand,'€ another book team member, Syahrul Ansory, said.

In particular, Lemhanas is confident that a better managed agroindustry will result in the environmentally friendly utilization of natural resources, such as bioenergy resources, and better overall economic development.

This development would also generate funds for human resource education and upgrading, which could further enhance the nation'€™s economy and provide stability toward sustainable security, the institute said.

However, Indonesia would still face subtle economic challenges possibly because of its archipelagic structure and huge population, the book concluded.

Lemhanas said that it would publish similar books in the future.

'€œHopefully we will not stop with the publication of this book. We will learn from this and improve on it,'€ he said. (saf)