Through his program, the chairman of the Indonesian Council of Ulema (MUI) said he wanted to strengthen what the government of President Joko Widodo (Jokowi) has carried out so far in his first presidential term.
"I will launch new economic current in Indonesia. The old current gave birth to conglomeration, which was expected to have trickle down effect but unfortunately it failed to trickle," Ma`ruf said here on Tuesday.
He said the new economic `current` could eliminate the disparity between the rich and the poor, and the gap between regions through infrastructure development already launched by President Jokowi.
"I want to help Mr Jokowi to usher in a better future for Indonesia," he said.
He said through his program he wants to develop collaboration or partnership between economically weak and powerful groups.
The people of Maluku have remained poor although the region is highly potential in natural resources, he said, adding Maluku was once famous for its spices.
"Therefore, we have to develop Maluku to become a strong region. Similar with Sumatra, Kalimantan and other regions, This is what I mean by eliminating disparity between regions," he said.
South Sulawesi is a big producer of cacao and the commodity is exported to Singapore when it is processed further into chocolate with high added value, he cited.
"In the future we want the added value is South Sulawesi. God, willing we will eliminate the disparity," he said without giving details of what he calls new economic current.
He said implementation of his program will need the support of skilled and competitive human resources.
He said he was inspired what the country had achieved in the recent Asian Games in which the country overshot its target in gold medals.
"By pumping the athlete with greater spirit the country overshot the target. Such fighting spirit has to be pumped into all element of the nation our people in various sectors such as economy and education," he said.
However, economic development should not be hampered by unending squabbling over ideology and political interest, he said.
Reporting by Rangga Pandu Asmara Jingga
Editing by Albert Saragih, Fardah Assegaf.
Reporter: Antara
Editor: Suharto
Copyright © ANTARA 2018
