The rupiah deprecation makes investment in Indonesia very interesting and competitive as a production basis."Jakarta (ANTARA News) - President Joko Widodo (Jokowi) has said he wants the Indonesian economy to not depend on exports but on sectors which have added values.
"The Indonesian economy is still fundamentally under a transitional process from dependence on raw material exports to an economic system which creates added values," the President said at Halim Perdanakusma airport before leaving for Japan and China here on Sunday.
He said that that the orientation of the countrys economy was now being diverted to production and investment from consumption so far.
Jokowi, as the president is popularly called, said that the rupiah depreciation against the US dollar was a signal that required Indonesia to make improvement and to modernize its economy, yet it also protects our competitive edge both domestically and internationally.
"The rupiah deprecation makes investment in Indonesia very interesting and competitive as a production basis," he added.
To achieve these goals, the government has taken several steps such as improving infrastructure, providing electricity, developing toll roads, ports, one stop service facility, creating fiscal room and offsetting inflation, Jokowi stated.
On the same occasion, Vice President Jusuf Kalla said that so far Indonesia has carried out of a lot of imports.
"We import raw materials. Now we should consume much of our own production so that it will increase domestic productivity," Kalla added.
He said that there a lot of commodities Indonesia could export. If in the past Indonesia could only export minerals, it could now export chocolate and coffee in the form of finished goods.
"Now should export what could be consumed directly. Thus, we have to be able to produce such goods first," he said.
President Jokowi left for Japan on Sunday at noon in an overseas trip that will also take him to China and Malaysia.
The head of state, accompanied by Foreign Affairs Minister Retno LP Marsudi, will make state visits to Japan and China, from March 22 to 28, 2015, to intensify economic cooperation.
He will be in Tokyo on March 22-25, and proceed to Beijing for a two-day state visit until March 27.
From Beijing, he will visit Malaysia to attend a wedding party of a high ranking official. He is expected to return to Jakarta on March 28, 2015.
Earlier, the Foreign Affairs Ministrys spokesman Arrmanatha Nasir said Jokowis working visit aims to emphasize that Indonesia is an important partner of Japan and China.
Japan has been Indonesias strategic partner for the past decade, and the third-largest trade partner, with bilateral trade reaching US$40.2 billion.
"Besides this, Japan is also the second-largest investor in Indonesia, with investment value of around US$2.7 billion in 2014," Arrmanatha remarked.
He affirmed that during his visit to Japan, President Jokowi will meet the countrys emperor and attend a business forum with one thousand Japanese businesspersons.
"In China, President Jokowi will meet his Chinese counterpart, Xi Jinping and will also attend a business forum with Chinese businesspersons," he noted.
(Uu.A014/B003)
Editor: Priyambodo RH
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