REPUBLIKA.CO.ID, LONDON -- The Great Britain is one of Indonesia's strategic partners, with bilateral trade reaching US$2.4 billion, according to Finance Minister Sri Mulyani Indrawati.
The statement was made by the minister during the 2017 Economic Outlook, organized by the Young Indonesian Professionals Association (YIPA) in cooperation with Bloomberg in London, the association's Executive Director Steven Marcelino informed Antara in London, Tuesday.
Minister Indrawati further stated that the Great Britain is among the top 10 investors in Indonesia, and the country is also the most sought after destination for the ministry's scholarship awardees for pursuing further studies.
In her keynote speech, the former managing director of World Bank also remarked that Indonesia's economy had recorded a 5.02 percent growth above the expected figure in 2017, which indicated that the country had recovered from the downfall in the global commodity market.
In the last decade, Indonesia's economy had grown at an average of 5.7 percent per year, which is considerably high as compared to other G20 member countries, thereby placing Indonesia just behind India and China. As the growth was sustained by a stable rate of inflation, the challenges remain.
Indonesia needs to figure out how to sustain better quality growth in order to achieve inclusive and equitable development in future. She believed that the fiscal policy in every country is a crucial government facility to not only ensure macroeconomic growth but to also manage the micro economy that had a direct impact on the human aspect of growth.
In President Joko Widodo's ruling, the infrastructure development agenda reaches Rp5,000 trillion, but until now, the government has been able to cover a mere 25 percent of the total required funds.
In order to tackle this issue, the government had decided to allocate the funds to develop strategic areas, especially by boosting connectivity between islands in Indonesia. Foreign investors are being invited to take part in Indonesia's infrastructure development.
The country had also undergone a huge reformation process, in which the government had increased ease of doing business in Indonesia. Last year, Indonesia's position in the index of ease of doing business had moved up from 106th to 91st, but the government believed that it could implement more measures and eventually place the country in the top 40 ranking.
The forum, held at the Bloomberg's European headquarters, was inaugurated by Bloomberg's London Chairman Constantin Cotzias, followed by an opening speech delivered by Indonesia's Ambassador to the Great Britain Rizal Sukma.
The ambassador stated that Indonesia is a big country in several different aspects, but unfortunately, the nation has yet to gain the attention of foreign investors and business leaders.
To this end, Indonesia needs to project a better image to the world in order to make its profile more attractive at the global stage, he suggested.
At the forum, attended by 200 participants from investment firms, community, and private equity firms as well as fund managers and YIPA members, Minister Indrawati concluded her keynote address by highlighting the fact that Indonesia is the biggest and most important country in the region of the Association of Southeast Asian Nations, with an accountable track record.
It also houses a rather young population and has applied radical reforms to ease investment activities. Indonesia has also opened its doors for capital investment and human capital, she noted.
The forum also comprised a panel featuring the finance minister's Chief of Staff Luky Alfirman, Bloomberg's Paul Hopkinson, HSBC's Global Managing Director Mark Emmerson, and Indonesia's Central Bank's London Chief Representative Endy Tjahjono.
The panel was moderated by Bloomberg TV Anchor Guy Johnson. The Indonesia Economic Outlook in London was then concluded by Steven Marcelino's address, as he represented the diaspora who came up with the idea of the forum.
He believed that the platform can act as a bridge between the foreign investors' community in the UK and the Indonesian government in terms of facilitating the potential areas of investment.
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