Berlin, Germany (ANTARA News) - President Joko Widodo spoke of the era of global competition while addressing a gathering of 200 Indonesians in Germany on Monday (April 18).

"Now, we are in the era of global competition. If we are not ready, we will be eliminated from the competition," the president stated in Berlin.

To face the competition, the president said the government was focusing on three areas: deregulation, acceleration of infrastructure development, and strengthening the quality of human resources.

President Widodo recognized several complicated regulations, which should be removed, in order to attract investors.

The president explained that infrastructure development had shown good progress, such as the construction of the Trans Sumatra highway and a railway line in Sulawesi.

"The competition is inevitable. We only have two commitments: open and compete," President Widodo affirmed.

According to the head of state, the competition was not easy, and it was necessary to prepare qualified human resources to win the global competition.

President Widodo met Chancellor Angela Merkel to discuss free trade in the ASEAN and the Trans-Pacific Partnership.(*)

Editor: Heru Purwanto
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