IDF 2018: JK Elaborates Ways to Address Gap

Indonesian Vice President, Jusuf Kalla (JK), is delivering his opening remark in Indonesia Development Forum 2018.

Jakarta, July 10 2018 - The Vice President of Indonesia, Jusuf Kalla (JK) officially opened the Indonesia Development Forum 2018 jointly with the Minister of National Development Planning (Bappenas), Bambang Brodjonegoro, and Ambassador of Australia for Indonesia, Gary Quinlan. In his address, the Vice President elaborated several means to address gaps in Indonesia. 

“The disparity in Indonesia are associated with unequal basic services, different quality of education, as well as unequal economic system,” he explained in the opening session of the forum on Tuesday, July 10, 2018. 

Therefore, he recommended both national and sub-national governments to put more efforts on these three problems. The national government, JK added, has been striving to prioritize the development of basic services, such as education and health, in the outermost, remote, and border areas of the country.

The sub-national governments need to jointly as well as compete with each other to advance their respective regions. Through IDF 2018, JK suggested the sub-national governments to learn and share information from each other on various good practices available. IDF becomes a critical platform to break the issue of inter-regional gaps in the country. 

However, he reminded, it is necessary to bear in mind that every region has its own unique potentials, hence innovations from other areas must not only be adopted, yet also adapted. Only when all regions are capable of leveraging their potentials well, prosperity will ensue. 

In line with the Vice President’s statement, the Head of Bappenas, Bambang Brodjonegoro, hoped that IDF 2018 would show various innovations and good practices from the successful regions. He further expected that ideas would emerge not only from sub-national governments, but also civil society and academics. 

“Strategic issues that are raised from bottom to the top from sub-national level would be very beneficial to formulate the country’s National Mid-Term Development Plan (RPJMN) of 2020-2024,” he explained. 

Indonesia Development Forum 2018 is held by the National Development Planning Agency (Bappenas) with the support of the Government of Australia through Knowledge Sector Initiative (KSI). IDF 2018 promotes more equal and sustainable development acceleration in Indonesia that is based upon science, relevant experiences, and facts. 

Entitled “Pathways to Tackle Regional Disparities Across the Archipelago”, IDF 2018 came up with seven sub-themes, all of which are relevant to solve gap problems in Indonesia. The seven sub-themes are: Narrowing the Gaps at the Periphery; Regional Growth Centres: What Works Best?; Unlocking the Potential of the Digital Economy for Regional Development; Smarter Funding for Better Outcomes; Connecting the Archipelago; Delivering Basic Services to Reduce Regional Disparity; and Innovations in Local Governance and Development.**