"There is a debate about whether Indonesia will become an advanced country in 2045? (I want to say) that is correct because it has been calculated. The government has calculated about what will occur in that year," Mahfud remarked during the "Image of the Centenary of Indonesia" dialogue at Islamic University of Indonesia (UII), Sleman, Yogyakarta, on Tuesday.
Indonesia will achieve its “ideal stage”—as envisioned by the nation’s founders when they declared independence in 1945—on the centenary of its independence, he said.
The ideal stage of Golden Indonesia, the coordinating minister said, has been outlined in the preamble to the nation’s Constitution.
Presidential regulations passed by then-President Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono in 2010 and President Joko Widodo (Jokowi) in 2016 have reiterated the commitment to achieving the Golden Indonesia vision on the centenary of the nation’s independence, he added.
The presidential regulations envisage Golden Indonesia as a united, advanced, just, and prosperous country post independence, he pointed out.
"We omit the (first point of) 'independence' because we have been independent, but now we are not advanced yet, not yet united, not just yet, and not prosperous," the coordinating minister remarked.
The government has calculated the income per capita at the time the Golden Indonesia goal is expected to be achieved in 2045 at US$23.9 thousand, he informed.
Moreover, the government has also calculated other aspects of the upstream and downstream natural resources, as well as the potential of human resources developed by national universities, Mahfud added.
"We are now part of G20 and are among the 20 major countries; tomorrow, we will be among the top five," he remarked.
Despite the optimistic forecast, the coordinating minister emphasized that the participation of national stakeholders in maintaining national unity and improving scientific and technological advances remains essential.
"Without that, we will not achieve the Golden Indonesia goal. (We also need the) second, sustainable economic development, the third is even distribution of development, and the fourth is to consolidate national resilience and government administration," Mahfud expounded.
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Translator: Luqman Hakim, Nabil Ihsan
Editor: Rahmad Nasution
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