ASEAN has shown remarkable economic growth, especially during the 2010 to 2019 period, she noted at the opening of the 1st ASEAN Finance Ministers and Central Bank Governors Meeting (AFMGM) 2023 here on Friday.
She said she expects ASEAN to ensure that the achievement continues by strengthening the region's capacity to confront challenges, including past, current, and future ones.
In 2020, ASEAN's GDP shrunk by more than the global growth rate due to the COVID-19 pandemic.
In 2021, ASEAN's growth remained below pre-pandemic levels, which is why full recovery was expected to occur in 2022.
Thus, in the future, ASEAN should determine to become a region with strong and sustainable inclusive growth.
Minister Indrawati informed that many international organizations are still projecting that ASEAN will grow positively in 2023, and the region still has plenty of time to realize or even, exceed the projection.
While ASEAN growth remained below pre-pandemic levels in 2021, Indonesia was slightly fortunate because, during that year, the nation’s GDP surpassed the pre-pandemic level, she noted.
This was noteworthy considering it happened amid the pandemic, and it was completely unprecedented for Indonesia after a period of very high economic growth, she said.
Despite this, the pandemic motivated Indonesia to ensure that its economy remains in a better condition than in the previous years.
She then urged ASEAN countries to be wary and be ready for external challenges that could cause turbulence in the regional economy.
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Translator: Agatha O V, Fadhli Ruhman
Editor: Sri Haryati
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