"The Indonesian Government kindly welcomes any initiatives and is open for a stronger collaboration in the future," the minister remarked during the opening of the 2023 ASEAN Socio-Cultural Community (ASCC) in Nusa Dua, Badung District, Bali, on Sunday.
Today, he said, Indonesia and other ASEAN countries are facing tough challenges in their efforts to alleviate poverty. Potential global recessions, climate change, and geopolitical factors serve as big obstacles in poverty eradication efforts.
"In order to overcome these challenges, we need to develop a resilient, sustainable, inclusive, and adaptive agenda to face likely crises and unexpected disasters," he noted.
The minister said that the government must take food resilience as its main orientation by strengthening social protection schemes as well as subsidies, especially for those who belong to poor and vulnerable groups, such as persons with disabilities, the elderly, children, and women.
In addition, he continued, it is also necessary to strengthen the business sector through the real and financial sector safety nets.
According to Effendy, in 2020, ASEAN countries will have successfully suppressed the rate of extreme poverty to five percent. Moreover, a number of countries, namely Singapore, Malaysia, and Thailand, have managed to completely eradicate it.
The positive trend, he said, indicates that the ASEAN governments have been highly committed to eradicating poverty and providing a good standard of living to their people.
"The ASEAN milestone can be seen as a guideline for the bloc to take better measures in efforts to eradicate poverty and to formulate the next strategies," he said.
Furthermore, the minister reiterated that the government has stipulated extreme poverty eradication as one of its main priorities. The stipulation, he said, was found in the 2020–2024 National Mid-Term Development Plan (RPJMN).
"On behalf of the Indonesian Government, I would like to extend appreciation and gratitude to the ladies and gentlemen here, to the speakers, and to all participants who are willing to share knowledge at this ASCC Knowledge Forum," he said.
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Translator: Zubi Mahrofi, Tegar Nurfitra
Editor: Azis Kurmala
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