"The number of people whose earnings are above the national average per capita income is rising," the President noted.Yogyakarta (ANTARA News) - President Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono has stated that the reduction of poverty in the country must be the next government`s top priority.
"In my opinion, poverty reduction has always been the priority since independence, starting from Soekarno, and then followed by Soeharto, Habibie, Abdurahman Wahid, and Megawati. Therefore, the duty must be continued," he said here on Wednesday.
"The number of people whose earnings are above the national average per capita income is rising," the President noted.
"But the poverty issue still bothers me. Even though the number of people living below the poverty line has decreased to approximately 20 or 30 million, I think it`s still quite an enormous number," he added.
Therefore, President Yudhoyono said, the central government should work together with regional governments, state enterprises and private companies in order to eradicate poverty.
He pointed out that poverty could also be reduced through sustainable economic growth.
"Therefore, everybody's agenda should be to reduce poverty and improve the welfare of the poor," the head of state said.
"Only then we will discover how important economic growth is for creating jobs and fulfilling the basic needs of the nation`s people," he stated.
"I am again underlining the urgency for state enterprise leaders to contribute to Indonesia`s economic growth by stepping up efforts to increase investment," the President added.(*)
Editor: Heru Purwanto
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