Jokowi Wants Indonesia To Immediately Become An OECD Member

President Jokowi and Minister of Finance Sri Mulyani ahead of the meeting at the Presidential Office, Jakarta, Wednesday, March 11, 2020. (ANTARA-Sigid Kurniawan)

Minister of Finance (Menkeu) Sri Mulyani Indrawati said President Joko Widodo (Jokowi) wanted the Indonesian membership process into the Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development (OECD) to run quickly.

"The President said that Indonesia wants the membership process to run quite well and quickly and the benefits of membership must be believed because it will improve policy quality and bureaucracy in Indonesia," said Sri Mulyani after accompanying President Jokowi to receive Secretary General of OECD Mathias Cormann at the Presidential Palace, Jakarta, Thursday 10 August, confiscated by Antara.

Sri Mulyani said Indonesia had officially volunteered to become an OECD member. In a meeting with the President, said Sri Mulyani, Mathias Cormann also explained the stages and conditions for Indonesia to become an OECD member.

So far, said Sri Mulyani, the cooperation between Indonesia and OECD has been going on for quite a long time. Indonesia has also carried out many economic reforms in accordance with OECD membership requirements.

"So that when Indonesia will and want to become an OECD member, we don't start from zero at all, but there are also many reform fields carried out by Indonesia that are in accordance with the needs of a policy framework that is in accordance with OECD," said the Minister of Finance.

On the same occasion, Foreign Minister Retno Marsudi added that Indonesia and OECD's close relations had been around for a long time.

"Since 2007 we have been a key partner of OECD and then we also participated in the enhanced engagement program, and OECD already has an office in Indonesia starting in 2015," he said.

In September 2023, said Retno, OECD will hold a meeting, among others, to discuss membership submissions from Indonesia.

"If it's okay to get a political agreement, the technical process will begin," he said.