"West Nusa Tenggara is one of the fast-growing provinces in the past three years. This momentum of economic growth must constantly be maintained and increased by paying attention to equitable distribution of economic gains, in order to increase the income of local people and reduce poverty rate in West Nusa Tenggara," he said, while opening a limited meeting at the Presidential Office, here on Tuesday.
West Nusa Tenggara saw its economy growing by 9.2 percent in 2015, and the figure fell to 5.81 percent in 2016, he noted.
"But it is still above the average national growth (of 5.02 percent)," he stated.
The provinces per capita income currently stands at Rp23.74 million per year or a half of the average national per capita income.
Despite a steady drop, the number of poor people in West Nusa Tenggara is still above the average national figure, he noted.
For its part, the president asked all ministries and the West Nusa Tenggara governor to pay attention to the development of agricultural, trade, and mining sectors.
"Nearly 24 percent of the West Nusa Tenggaras economy is driven by the agricultural sector, 15 percent by the mining sector, and 13 percent by the trade and retail sector," he remarked.
The agricultural sectors contribution to the local economy must be increased to turn West Nusa Tenggara into a rice-producing region in Indonesia, he asserted.(*)
Editor: Heru Purwanto
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