Coordinating Ministry For The Economy: Mandalika SEZ Must Optimize Indonesia's Demographic Bonus For The Next 10 Years

Secretary of the Coordinating Ministry for the Economy Susiwijono Moegiarso. (Photo: Doc. Antara)

JAKARTA - The government assesses that the Mandalika Special Economic Zone (SEZ) must be able to optimize Indonesia's demographic bonus in the next 10 years.

This was conveyed by the Secretary of the Coordinating Ministry for the Economy Susiwijono Moegiarso who also serves as Plt. Secretary General of the National Council of SEZs at Mataram University (Unram) during a guest lecture with the theme "The Development of Multilateral Economic Cooperation of OECD and its Benefits for the Special Economic Zone (KEK) Mandalika" on Friday, October 13, 2023.

"Demographic bonuses are a phenomenon that only happens once, therefore SEZs must optimize Indonesia's demographic bonus in the next 10 years by opening the widest possible employment opportunities," said Susiwijono through an official statement in Jakarta, as reported by Antara.

He also emphasized the government's commitment to continue to encourage economic growth, including through the SEZ.

The Mandalika SEZ is considered to be one of the efforts to achieve sustainable economic growth in West Nusa Tenggara (NTB). Therefore, Susiwijono believes that the Mandalika SEZ must be able to increase Gross Regional Domestic Products.

This is an important step to convince investors and provide concrete benefits for the region.

Furthermore, the Coordinating Ministry for the Economy continues to advance Indonesia's multilateral economic cooperation in order to achieve the goal of transforming the Indonesian Gold economy in 2045 which aims to make Indonesia a high, inclusive, and sustainable state of income.

President Joko Widodo has also given directions for Indonesia to immediately become a member of the Organization for Economic Co-operation and Development (OECD) which will provide many economic opportunities.

On the same occasion, the Chancellor of Mataram University, Professor Bambang Hari Kusumo, hopes that the guest lecture is expected to be the beginning of a closer cooperation between the Coordinating Ministry for the Economy and Unram.

He added, with the MotoGP in Mandalika, the NTB people's dream can be fulfilled. The Chancellor hopes that in the development of students, they should not only be spectators, but can develop their capacity to get the maximum benefit.

"Prepare from now on what you can do for this development. You are diligent in studying for Indonesia 2045, becoming a job creator, not a job seeker. Let's use this moment to develop," concluded Professor Bambang.

Susiwijono conveyed material related to Indonesia's strategic role in multilateral economic cooperation. Susiwijono also said that the COVID-19 pandemic, geopolitical conditions between Russia and Ukraine, and world trade fragmentation have brought global uncertainty.

These conditions have an impact on world economic policies including higher interest rates and inflation, developing state debt pressure, and tightening global financial conditions. In addition, the risk of a food crisis due to the El Nino phenomenon also affects food production.

In the midst of this uncertainty, the Government continues to strengthen domestic policies and investments in order to increase economic growth. Fiscal policy mixes, monetary and financial sectors are applied to maintain economic growth, control inflation, increase downstream natural resource commodities, and encourage exports to increase resilience in the external sector and take advantage of Indonesia's demographic bonuses.