The Boss Of Garudafood Conglomerate Sudhamek Warns Sri Mulyani Not To Issue Counterproductive Policies

Conglomerate Sudhamek Agoeng Waspodo. (Photo: Doc. Antara)

JAKARTA - All countries are trying to recover from the COVID-19 pandemic and encourage economic recovery, including in Indonesia. The government itself targets this year until 2022 to be a momentum for economic sector recovery.

Seeing this opportunity, the boss of Garudafood, conglomerate Sudhamek Agoeng Waspodo Soenjoto warned Finance Minister Sri Mulyani not to take counterproductive policies. Sudhamek said, the economic recovery is now running fast.

Sudhamek saw various indicators, including growth in gross domestic product (GDP), increasing export growth, and very high growth in investment, especially Foreign Direct Investment (FDI).

"Don't let this be disturbed because of inappropriate policies," he said in a webinar, Wednesday, September 29.

To measure the pulse of the Indonesian economy, according to Sudhamek, it can be seen from the condition of the food and beverage industry (mamin). This is because the Indonesian economy is known as a domestic economy and 49.22 percent of the public's expenditure comes from the food sector.

Furthermore, Sudhamek said that entrepreneurs are currently trying to turn heads to overcome this very difficult situation. Therefore, he asked stakeholders in making decisions to be careful.

"So it means that the ups and downs of the food industry will be a reflection of the ups and downs of our economic life. In that context, be careful in issuing policies so that they do not lead to results that are actually counterproductive," he said.

In addition, Sudhamek also advised the government through the ministers of President Joko Widodo (Jokowi) not to speak too optimistically during this COVID-19 pandemic, but also to be realistic. Because the uncertainty is still very high.

"I haven't heard any of the explanations of the three ministers describing how the management transformation is from a pandemic to an endemic. So we shouldn't just be optimistic," he said.

Furthermore, Sudhamek said that in the second quarter of 2021, Indonesia was hit again by the second wave of the COVID-19 pandemic with the outbreak of the Delta variant. This ultimately has an impact on economic growth in the third quarter.

"Don't let it repeat itself, the momentum that has come must be captured well, managed properly while remaining realistic, don't be overly optimistic. We must not overdo it in responding to the decline in the pandemic. But still with an attitude that is full of prudence," he said.