"They have welcomed this very positively," he said after a meeting with OECD Secretary General Mathias Cormann in Jakarta on Thursday.
Hartarto said that OECD has recognized Indonesia's success in economic reformation and its hosting of various international forums, including the COVID-19 crisis handling, the G20 Presidency, and the current 2023 ASEAN Chairmanship.
He added that the plan for Indonesia's membership had been communicated to the 38 existing OECD members.
A road map of Indonesia's path to the OECD membership will be created before the acceptance process.
Hartarto mentioned that the process of becoming an OECD member generally takes a significant amount of time, around four to eight years.
Hence, he stated that the decision on Indonesia's membership to the OECD will not be announced this year.
However, Hartarto pointed out that Indonesia would become the first Southeast Asian country and the third in Asia to become an OECD member if the membership process is successful.
Being an OECD member, he affirmed, would bring numerous benefits to the community.
The majority of OECD members are high-income countries, with an average gross domestic product (GDP) per capita of US$43,260.7 in 2022.
Hartarto stated that if Indonesia becomes an OECD member, it would signal that the country's economic growth has improved significantly.
"OECD members have an average GDP per capita above US$10 thousand, making the standards set by the OECD a benchmark for implementing development programs in Indonesia. This way, we can escape the middle-income trap," he explained.
Indonesia is classified as an upper-middle-income country by the World Bank, with its GDP per capita reaching US$4,580 in 2022.
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Translator: Imamatul S, Kenzu
Editor: Anton Santoso
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