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Jokowi vows to prioritize structural reforms in 'second term'
The incumbent has stressed his commitment to structural reforms in tackling the current account deficit "for the next five years", ahead of the official election results on May 22.
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President Joko Widodo (center) answers journalists' questions on [April 10, 2019] after opening the Jakarta development planning forum, accompanied by Vice President Jusuf Kalla (second right) and several Cabinet ministers. (file photo) (Antara/Wahyu Putro A)
P
resident Joko “Jokowi” Widodo has reaffirmed his commitment to structural reforms during his "second term" to attract more investment to the country and to boost exports, saying that Indonesia needed to work hard to realize its immense potential as an economic powerhouse.
The unofficial quick count results point to victory for the incumbent and his running mate Ma’ruf Amin. The General Elections Commission (KPU) is to announce the official results on May 22, but challenger Prabowo Subianto-Sandiaga Uno has vowed to contest the official results if the KPU did not act upon its alleged findings of foul play at the polls.
Speaking before regional leaders during the National Development Planning Conference (Musrenbangnas) on Thursday at the Hotel Shangri-La in Jakarta, Jokowi said structural reforms, including cutting red tape and slimming down the bureaucracy, would be one of his main priorities over the next five years.
“With regard to licensing, the central and regional [governments] should be brave in cutting [red tape]," he said. “Without [taking] such a move, we cannot dream of becoming the fourth or fifth largest economy in the world.”
A National Development Planning Board (Bappenas) study revealed that Indonesia was on course to become the fifth largest economy in the world by 2045 – as long as it maintained an annual gross domestic product (GDP) growth rate of 5.7 percent, it executed its structural reform agenda as planned, and that external factors remained conducive in terms of relatively high global GDP growth.
Jokowi added that he was committed to dissolving state institutions that had proved ineffective, as a leaner bureaucracy would allow the government to respond with flexibility to the latest developments.
He affirmed that his administration would not shy away from making bold structural reform policies, as he had been successful in his reelection bid in the presidential election on April 18. “In the next five years – I apologize – I have no burdens. I will do whatever is best for the country,” he stressed.
