Discussing Indonesia's Economic Growth At The Swiss World Economic Forum, Coordinating Minister Airlangga: Results Of The People-First Policy

Coordinating Minister for the Economy Airlangga Hartarto. (Photo: Doc. Coordinating Ministry for the Economy)

JAKARTA - The momentum of Indonesia's G20 Presidency in 2022 coincides with world conditions that are struggling together to deal with the impacts of the Covid-19 pandemic. For this reason, Indonesia carries the theme "Recover Together, Recover Stronger" at this year's G20 event to invite G20 countries to recover together.

This theme is also a driving force for Indonesia in carrying out various efforts to deal with Covid-19 and national economic recovery which have shown good results and are recognized for their success by countries in the world.

The Coordinating Minister for Economic Affairs Airlangga Hartarto also said that Indonesia's recovery can be proven by high economic growth in the first quarter of 2022 which reached 5.01 percent and was higher than other G20 countries including Germany and China. This was conveyed by Coordinating Minister Airlangga when representing Indonesia to convey views and perspectives at the Country Strategy Dialogue session in the 2022 World Economic Forum Annual Meeting (WEFAM) event in Davos, Switzerland, Wednesday 25 May.

“The achievement of this significant economic growth is supported by the Government's people-first policy. The government places itself as a community to consider how the impact will be felt by the community as a result of decisions that will and have been implemented," said Coordinating Minister Airlangga in his statement.

One example is the policy of providing cash assistance to street vendors, shop owners, and fishermen (BT-PKLWN) which was initiated to help MSME actors while encouraging public consumption. In addition, there is also a Pre-Employment Card program which is semi-social assistance and was initiated by the Government for reskilling and upskilling the community during the pandemic. The benefits of this Pre-Employment Card were successfully received by 11.4 million recipients.

For school students, the Government also provides free internet quota assistance to ensure the availability of education during the pandemic.

All of these steps have risks in terms of the needs of the state budget. However, Coordinating Minister Airlangga believes that this will bring long-term benefits to the community.

“The government puts the people first, we invest in them, and ensure their trust. I firmly believe that these decisions in the long term will prove just as important as they did in the short term. In the end, if the Indonesian people can trust the government, then the people will be the most valuable investment for a country," said Coordinating Minister Airlangga.

Furthermore, Coordinating Minister Airlangga emphasized that this people-first approach does not only apply during times of crisis. The use of this approach in the fields of labour, education, health and other social services can be the guiding force behind development efforts.

This can be seen as in environmental policies, where Indonesia also emphasizes a people-first approach. The government listens to complaints from families whose lives and livelihoods are under the real threat of climate change. As a result, in the last two years Indonesia has succeeded in reducing deforestation by 80 percent.

Coordinating Minister Airlangga believes that implementing the people-first policy can bring about real change. “This approach is an inclusive, sustainable and principled approach. This approach can be the basis for increasing engagement and cooperation around the world," concluded Coordinating Minister Airlangga.