The Importance of Maintaining Economic Stability in a Political Year

JAKARTA - The Minister of Investment/Head of the Investment Coordinating Board (BKPM), Bahlil Lahadalia, stressed the importance of maintaining Indonesia's economic stability entering 2023 which is a political year.

Moreover, the investment target in 2023 is set to reach IDR 1,400 trillion.

"Indonesia is in 2023, this is a political year and this is not easy. It seems that every political year there is a wait-and-see. Wait and see, if we are not able to manage it, this will have a not-so-good impact on economic growth and investment growth", he said in a press conference "Hilirisasi Kunci Investasi dan Tantangan Investasi 2023", quoted from Antara, Wednesday 18 January.

Bahlil said that the employment problems currently faced by Indonesia would be overcome by the inflow of investment.

He said the availability of jobs will increase with the investment.

Therefore, domestic stability is needed to convince investors to invest in Indonesia.

"I want to convey that stability is very important apart from what we are doing now, (namely) penetration in the domestic and foreign national markets, how we seduce, how we promote, how we convince them to enter. But if domestic stability is not we take good care of it, that will be the biggest problem. I think this is the responsibility of all of us," he said.

Even though political issues are a priority this year, Bahlil emphasized that economic issues must also be maintained.

He emphasized that the momentum of global trust in Indonesia must not be allowed to pass by, but must have an economic impact on the country.

"I ask for support to be able to maintain the stability of our country properly so that the momentum of public trust, global trust in our country does not just go away without having any positive effect," he said.

Furthermore, Bahlil admits that he is optimistic that he will be able to reach the investment target of IDR 1,400 trillion in 2023. To achieve this target, Bahlil will focus on the downstream sector.

According to him, downstream is one way to boost investment growth, increase the creation of quality fields and encourage Indonesia to become a developed country.

"Our investment is IDR 1,400 trillion in 2023. What will we do in the future, we will focus on downstream. There is no other way to boost our investment growth and create quality fields and at the same time push Indonesia from a developing country to a developed country", he said.