The coronavirus pandemic is an opportunity to reshape Indonesia’s economic, legal, fitness and school systems and move them to an evolved country, according to President Joko Widodo.
“We will have to turn this crisis into an opportunity to make big leaps,” Jokowi said, as the president is known, in his usual speech to the joint chamber of parliament before Independence Day. “And in 25 years, in the case of the centenary of the Republic of Indonesia, we will have to make wonderful progress and make Indonesia an evolved country.”
Indonesia has struggled to involve the deadliest coronavirus outbreak in Southeast Asia, which has also wreaked havoc on its economy, with millions of people unemployed in its service and production sectors.Jokowi is expected to unveil measures to revive the economy in his annual budget speech later on Friday, after setting aside about $50 billion in fiscal stimulus to counteract the effect of this year’s pandemic.
As the world economy faces the worst crisis in its history, “all countries will have to go through a brief closing, restart and restart procedure,” Jokowi said. “And all countries have the ability to reboot all systems.”
Indonesia’s economy is 5.32% year-on-year this quarter, its first contraction in more than two decades, while movement restrictions to involve the coronavirus outbreak decimated activity. The government plans to spend up to 1.476 trillion rupees ($100 billion) in the six months of December to stimulate the economy, Finance Minister Sri Mulyani Indrawati said last week.
“This is the time to basically renew ourselves, to make a primary transformation, to put in place wonderful methods in the fields of economics, law, governance, social culture, physical fitness and education,” Jokowi said. “We want to make basic reforms in the way we work. Our availability and speed are proven.”
The president’s strategy of balancing health care and the economy by avoiding a total blockade has meant that the virus is still on the road to extinction in the country without symptoms of bloating. Infections have been increasing as a result of the easing of social estrangement regulations since the end of May and the death toll of near 6,000, the highest among Southeast Asian countries. The virus has also inflamed more than 130,000 people, and cases have doubled since late June, according to official data.
While the pandemic has forced immediate adjustments to Indonesia’s fitness systems, basic reforms in the fitness industry want to accelerate with disease prevention and a healthy lifestyle, Jokowi said. The government set aside $6 billion for the fitness sector this year after temporarily cutting a restriction on the budget deficit and getting the central bank to directly finance public spending.
Other highlights of Jokowi’s speech:
– With Tassia Sipahutar and Rieka Rahadiana