Japan And England Enter The Recession Abyss, Erick Thohir Says Indonesia Has A Chance To Grow

SOE Minister Erick Thohir. (Photo: Mery Handayani/VOI)

JAKARTA - Minister of State-Owned Enterprises (BUMN) Erick Thohir believes that Indonesia will not be threatened with a recession following Japan and Inggeis. The reason is, Erick assessed, there is an opportunity for the Indonesian economy to grow higher.

Moreover, continued Erick, Indonesia's current economic growth can reach 5.05 percent, higher than many countries in the world. Therefore, he said, it is possible that the economy could grow 5.5 percent in the future.

"When there are many recession countries, but actually there is an opportunity for Indonesia to grow, it's just us, what I said earlier was consolidation," he said after the Groundbreaking of the BNI Building at Pantai Indah Kapuk (PIK) 2, Tangerang, Banten, Tuesday, February 20.

Erick explained that the consolidation he meant was cooperation between the central government and local governments. Especially, to provide convenience for the entry of investment into Indonesia.

"The central government, local governments make licensing easier, licensing invests, licensing is also for land and others, and that's where of course how we encourage private ones to grow, SOEs to grow, and investments can enter as much as possible," said Erick.

Erick said, when big countries in the world are threatened with recession, Indonesia actually has the opportunity to grow faster.

"So when for example the UK has a recession, Japan has a recession, it doesn't mean we are heading for a recession, yes, that's exactly what opportunity is when other countries slow down, we accelerate growth," he explained.

"It's just a context, we can't improve ourselves so that we are more friendly to the market, friendly to investment," he said.