When it comes to freedom, it has to be admitted that the level of Indonesia's dependence on imported products remains high.
Jakarta (ANTARA) - People's Consultative Assembly (MPR RI) Speaker Bambang Soesatyo, nicknamed Bamsoet, emphasized that Indonesia should address its dependency on food and health imports on its 76th anniversary of independence.

"When it comes to freedom, it has to be admitted that the level of Indonesia's dependence on imported products remains high," Bamsoet noted during a public dialog titled "Reflecting 76 years of Indonesia Independence: Are We Free?" held virtually on Saturday.

The MPR speaker made the statement while referring to the data by Statistics Indonesia (BPS) that indicated up to Rp88.21 trillion worth of food imported by Indonesia during the first semester of 2021.

The speaker further cited another example wherein the level of dependence on imported health products had reached 90 percent.

The data was based on a statement delivered by Bambang Brodjonegoro in May 2020 when he was the research and technology minister and the National Research and Innovation Agency (BRIN) head.

Related news: Find solution to food imports, President tells Agriculture Ministry

Food and health sectors are crucial, not just because they are the primary needs but also since they can impact other sectors, especially amid the pandemic, Bamsoet pointed out.

During the event, he also highlighted several issues in Indonesia, such as education, justice, and poverty, that had to be addressed for the nation to achieve true independence in the broader sense.

In terms of education, he noted that Indonesia had ranked 72nd out of the 77 countries that participated in the Programme for International Student Assessment survey in December 2019.

The index of access to justice in Indonesia in 2019 was recorded at 69.6 percent, with the number of registered advocates reaching around 50 thousand people or less than one percent of the Indonesian population.

In terms of poverty, the BPS data noted that the number of Indonesians living in poverty had reached 27.54 million as of March 2021, a 1.12-million increase from March 2020.

Related news: Two provinces' food estate development should be completed in 2021

Translator: Jasuma Fadholi, Fadhli R
Editor: Suharto
Copyright © ANTARA 2021