Bambang Brodjonegoro: Indonesia Must Become A Developed Country In 2045, If It Fails, It's Better To Forget The Dream

JAKARTA - Former Minister of Research and Technology / Head of the National Research and Innovation Agency (BRIN) Bambang Brodjonegoro said Indonesia must become a developed country in 2045 so as not to be trapped in the status of a middle-income country (middle income trap).

"I emphasize that 2045 is important, not just celebrating 100 years of independence. If we can't fulfill the 2045 deadline, it's difficult or we haven't managed to get out of the middle income trap in 2045, finally we have to forget that dream," said Bambang in a webinar entitled "50 Years of Teaching Reason. Canal Budi" in Jakarta, quoted from Antara, Thursday, August 4.

This is because Indonesia is currently experiencing a demographic bonus, where the Indonesian population is dominated by productive young people. In many countries, the demographic bonus is one of the driving forces for middle-income countries to move up to become high-income countries.

"South Korea and Japan can do it, Indonesia has not proven it," said Bambang.

By 2045, Bambang estimates that many people are starting to age, so that Indonesia will be dominated by an aging society. Older people will not be able to be more productive because their body strength decreases.

"When you are old, you retire, your health is not as good as it used to be, it's a bit difficult to be a rich person. Therefore, we must make 2045 not only a symbol of 100 years, but a kind of deadline that should not be missed," he added.

Therefore, according to him, Indonesia needs to start basing its economy on innovation and not just natural resources. With innovation, natural resources can be processed to be of higher value which ultimately has a positive impact on the per capita income of each resident.

"We have wealth from our biodiversity, for example for herbal medicines which are now only known as jamu or OHT (Herbal and Traditional Medicines). It is time for serious research, we produce medicines that can be prescribed by doctors from herbal ingredients," he said.

He hopes that the raw materials for medicines which are currently still imported can be replaced by raw materials from within the country. According to him, currently investment in basic chemistry is still not enough to produce chemical components that can be used as drugs.

Bambang also hopes that Indonesia will not be proud to be the largest nickel exporter. In addition to the smelters, nickel must be further processed, for example into electric vehicle batteries, so that its value will be higher.

"Don't be satisfied that nickel is processed in smelters and then exported to other countries, and other countries are the biggest producers of electric batteries in the world," Bambang added.