RI Must Become Winner in Global Competition

Malang, E Java, May 5 (Antara) - Chief Economic Minister Hatta Rajasa said that Indonesia must maximize its strength to become a winner in the global competition. "Whether it is ready or not Indonesia must prepare itself to become a winner in the global competition by maximizing all the strength it has such as human resources, natural resources and strategic geographical location. After all,Indonesia is the third largest democracy in the world," the minister said when giving a lecture at Muhammadiyah University here on Sunday. He said that Indonesia ranked 16th in the world. The target of its vision in 2025 was to become a high-income country with a gross domestic product (GDP) of 12 trillion in 2014. The minister said that the key to achieving the target was having extraordinary business spirit. It would boost fast transformation through a regional and national integration approach. He said that there were three strategic pillars that had to be built namely the development of business corridors, reinforcement of national connectivity and accelerating human resources capacity building as well as the nation`s science and technology development. The minister said that innovation would grow if there were economic activities supported by infrastructure. Hatta said that Indonesia still faced challenges in human resources development, low quality, unsound composition of university graduates. The minister said that the number of people holding doctorate degrees (S3) was only about 98 out of one million population, which was still smaller than that in other countries. Amid fast global changes, a superior nation which had strong capability and competitiveness is needed. Indonesia will enter the ASEAN Economic Community (AEC) era in 2015. Indonesia and ASEAN will become a single market and a regional production basis.