"Despite the impact of low global commodity prices, the South Kalimantan economy rose to 4.38 percent in 2016 from 3.84 percent in 2015," Jokowi stated.
Jakarta (ANTARA News) - President Joko Widodo (Jokowi) evaluated the realization of strategic national projects and priority programs in South Kalimantan province during a limited meeting at the Presidential Office here on Monday.

"Despite the impact of low global commodity prices, the South Kalimantan economy rose to 4.38 percent in 2016 from 3.84 percent in 2015," he stated.

The rising economic growth showed good performance, with the export of the provinces key commodities such as coal, crude palm oil, and rubber increasing slightly, he noted.

"This can be seen from the rising contribution of net exports in 2016, which contracted more than 5 percent from the previous year," he remarked.

He revealed that South Kalimantan economys dependence on raw material exports, particularly mining commodities, will entail risk for the province.

According to data, the mining sector contributed 20.87 percent of the South Kalimantan province.

"For its part, it must steadily reduce its dependence on the mining sector by switching to the development of key sectors, including the agricultural, forestry, and fisheries sectors, as well as manufacturing industries," he pointed out.

The most important thing for South Kalimantan to develop the economy is to encourage the manufacturing industry by taking advantage of raw materials, he stated.

The president asserted that the agricultural, forestry, and fisheries sectors currently contributed to 14.98 percent of the economy of South Kalimantan province, followed by the manufacturing industry with 13.98 percent.

"To develop the agricultural and plantation sector, I want (South Kalimantan) to focus on developing key commodities and preparing supporting facilities. I want the development of the agricultural and plantation sectors to be integrated with the manufacturing industry to provide a multiple effect on the local economy," he concluded.(*)

Editor: Heru Purwanto
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