Member of the House of Representatives from the Gerindra Faction, Azis Subekti, considers that 2027 must be an important momentum for Indonesia to change the orientation of national development. According to him, Indonesia is not enough to be a strong country in terms of fiscal policy, but must move to become a productive country.
Azis said that over the past two decades, Indonesia has managed to maintain economic stability, expand infrastructure development, strengthen social protection, and bring the state to the village level.
"The achievement is important and must be appreciated. However, the next question is, have all the fiscal resources we have really produced productivity, added value, quality jobs, and national competitiveness?" said Azis in his statement, Wednesday, June 10.
According to Azis, Indonesia's main challenge in the future is no longer merely maintaining stability, but rather increasing national productivity. He emphasized that the success of development should not be measured solely by the amount of budget spent or the high absorption of the budget.
"What we have to measure is not only how much the state budget and the regional budget are spent, but what economic capabilities are born from that spending. Are people more productive, are the regions more independent, is the value of the economy increasing, and is the competitiveness of the nation getting stronger," he said.
Azis said that Indonesia has so far managed to build the foundation as a fiscal country. The state is able to collect revenue, maintain public financial stability, distribute resources, and expand public services. However, he reminded that a fiscal country is not automatically a productive country.
"Fiscal states are measured by their ability to collect and spend resources. Productive states are measured by their ability to turn those resources into a continuously growing economic capacity," he explained.
Azis also assessed that the difference between spending and investment must be a new awareness in the preparation of the State Budget and Regional Budget. According to him, spending will stop when the money is used up, while investment in development will continue to benefit in the long term.
"Good roads will serve the economy for decades. Good schools will produce productive generations for decades. Good ports will drive trade for decades. Therefore, the orientation of development must shift from merely financing activities to building capacity," he said.
The member of Commission II of the DPR also highlighted a number of structural obstacles that still limit national productivity. One of them is the development culture which is still too oriented towards administrative activities compared to real results.
Azis said that the measure of bureaucratic success so far often stops at the absorption of the budget, the number of completed programs, projects, or administrative reports. In fact, the community does not live from activity reports, but from the real benefits of development.
"New roads are valuable if they connect production centers with markets. Training is meaningful if it produces skills that the world of work needs. Government assistance has an impact if it is able to make beneficiaries more independent," he said.
The next obstacle, according to Azis, is decentralization which has not fully given birth to regional economic independence. He said that transfers to regions have been going on for more than two decades, but many regions are still very dependent on central budgets.
"The ultimate goal of the regional government is not a perfect report. The ultimate goal is a growing regional economy, job creation, increased community income, and a stronger regional revenue base," he said.
Therefore, Azis assessed that the future regional head must be able to answer the basic question: what kind of economy is being built for the future of his region.
He also emphasized the importance of the role of the Ministry of Home Affairs and the Ministry of PANRB in changing the direction of the national bureaucracy. According to him, what is measured by the two ministries will greatly determine the behavior of the bureaucracy at the center and the regions.
"If what is measured is only the completeness of the report, bureaucracy will become an expert in reporting. But if what is measured is regional productivity, job creation, investment, quality of public services, and fiscal independence, then the energy of bureaucracy will move in a more productive direction," said Azis.
In addition, Azis highlighted the structure of the Indonesian economy which is still dependent on the commodity cycle. He assessed that natural resource wealth such as coal, nickel, palm oil, copper, bauxite, geothermal energy, and other strategic commodities must be transformed into greater added value.
"Industrialization is not just an industrial agenda. Industrialization is the process of turning natural wealth into economic strength. Industrialization is not just about building factories, but creating productive jobs, innovation, and competitiveness," he said.
Azis also assessed that spatial planning, agrarian reform, land conflict resolution, and forest area management must be seen as part of the national productivity agenda.
According to him, land is not only a field that is mapped and certified, but also a production space, food space, investment space, and industrial space. Likewise, forests, which must be managed sustainably as a strategic capital of the nation.
"There is no food security without certainty of production space. There is no investment without certainty of land rights. There is no industrialization without clear spatial planning. Therefore, the agrarian, spatial planning, and forestry agenda is a national productivity agenda," he explained.
Azis also reminded Indonesia is a maritime country. More than two-thirds of Indonesia's territory is the ocean which holds great potential in fisheries, energy, trade, logistics, maritime industries, blue economy, and biological wealth.
"The sea should not be seen as a divider between regions. For an archipelago nation, the sea is Indonesia's largest connection. The sea is not the backyard of the nation, but the front page of Indonesia's future," he said.
On the other hand, Azis emphasized that corruption is still a serious obstacle to national productivity. He said corruption is not only a legal and moral issue, but also an economic issue.
"Corruption increases the cost of doing business, slows down investment, lowers the quality of public services, and reduces the effectiveness of development. The biggest loss of corruption is not just the money that is lost, but the opportunity that fails to be created," he said.
Azis views 2027 as having a strategic meaning because it can be a momentum to shift the orientation of national development from merely maintaining stability to increasing productivity. He said, the central government, ministries, institutions, SOEs, and local governments must move in the same development orchestration.
"The central government has a vision, the ministry has a program, the institution has a target, SOEs have an agenda, and the regions have priorities. But all of them must be connected in one big goal, namely increasing the productive capacity of the Indonesian nation," he said.
Azis likened national development to a rowing boat. According to him, no matter how strong the rowers are, the boat will not go fast if the rowing does not move in the same direction. Therefore, he encouraged the birth of a new discipline in national development.
According to him, each ministry and agency must be able to explain its contribution to national productivity. Every SOE must show its strategic added value. Each local government must be able to explain the economic advantages that are being built.
"The state budget and the regional budget should no longer be seen as mere annual shopping lists. Both must be instruments for creating national capabilities," he said.
Azis emphasized that state funds are essentially a trust. Some come from today's people's taxes, some from the natural resources inherited by previous generations, and some from debts that will be paid by future generations.
"Every rupiah in the APBN and APBD carries cross-generational responsibility. It is not just a number, but an opportunity, time, and future," he said.
Azis added that the success of development must be measured by increasing productivity, regional independence, economic added value, community empowerment, and the increasing opportunities for people's lives.
"If this awareness lives in the preparation of the State Budget and Regional Budget, then 2027 will be remembered not because of the size of the budget, but as a turning point when Indonesia begins to move from a fiscal state to a productive state," said Azis.
Azis emphasized that all national resources, ranging from the state budget, local budgets, land, forests, oceans, bureaucracy, technology, to natural wealth, are only tools. The ultimate goal is to build Indonesian people who are increasingly productive, capable, prosperous, and able to stand on their own feet.
"The highest measure of a country's success is not the size of the wealth it possesses, but its ability to turn that wealth into civilization," he concluded.
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