Grandson Of Conglomerate Mochtar Riady Optimistic That 2022 Will Be The Recovery Of The Industrial Sector To Return To Normal, The Economy Will Grow 4.7-5.5 Percent

John Riads. (Photo: Doc. Antara)

JAKARTA - The management of a property company, PT Lippo Karawaci (LPKR) is optimistic that 2022 will be a year of recovery for the industrial sector. This is in line with progress in the industrial sector and the digital economy which are considered to have an important role.

LPKR Chief Executive Officer John Riady said that although there are still concerns about the emergence of a new variant of COVID-19, the national economy is predicted to start showing optimism for recovery in line with the positive economic growth rate in the range of 3.5-4 percent throughout 2021 and the many opportunities that can be explored in 2022.

According to the grandson of conglomerate Mochtar Riady, although there are several challenges from the macro side related to inflation to minimal credit growth, John still sees that there are many opportunities that can be explored to achieve maximum growth this year.

"With the success of the vaccination program which will be continued in 2022, the issue of the COVID-19 pandemic will be much more under control. Because the percentage of people who have been fully vaccinated will be higher, the government is ready to prepare mitigation steps and strategies that have so far proven successful," said John in a written statement, quoted Monday, January 10.

Thus, John is optimistic that Indonesia still has the potential to reap positive growth in 2022, where the Ministry of Finance projects that national economic growth will be in the range of 4.7-5.5 percent.

"With the pandemic, the digital sector is now being strengthened due to mobility restrictions. From the available data, the valuation of our digital economy is very high, as are projections for the next few years. The pandemic has accelerated this digital acceleration, therefore I believe this will be a motor new growth," explained John.

Based on data from the Ministry of Finance, the valuation of the digital economy in 2021 will reach IDR 1.005 trillion or USD 70 billion. Meanwhile, based on the latest Google research, Indonesia's digital economy in 2025 is projected to touch 146 billion US dollars.

"One of the main strengths of the national economy is still contributed by domestic consumption. In other words, he said, the current national economic structure is very powerful to move forward even though there is still a pandemic lurking," he explained.

This has also made Lippo's investment in the digital realm, namely through PT Multipolar Tbk (MLPL), very aggressive. MLPL is a subsidiary with fairly high growth.

Until the second quarter of 2021, Multipolar has recorded a net profit and an increase in revenue compared to the previous year. The company's net profit reached IDR 371 billion in that period.

"I still believe that 2022 is a moment of recovery to normal conditions. Normal here is the new normal, where the digital economy plays an important role," concluded John.