Wearing black-and-gold sarong, President of Indonesia, Joko Widodo, giving a speech at House of Representatives complex. (Image via Tribun Manado)

From human resource to moving the capital, Jokowi's notes for 2020 State Budget Draft

JAKARTA - Last Friday, wearing black-and-gold Sarong and traditional headband, the President of Indonesia, Joko Widodo, generally known as Jokowi, addressed his State of the Nation speech at the House of Representatives complex, Jakarta. The address also covers the draft for the 2020 State Budget.

Having been re-elected for the second term, Jokowi asserted that during his office term, there were 5 sectors that the Indonesian government would want to improve in the future. The first two was infrastructure and human resource, the main topics for 2020. Hence, in his speech, the word “human capital” and “infrastructure” were the most frequently heard.

For Jokowi, the development of human capital in Indonesia and innovation is integral for the nation to be able to compete on international levels. Hence, he set these sectors as the main themes for the 2020 fiscal policies.

Moreover, the President had set a new target for the state revenue at Rp 2.22 quadrillion [US$156 billion], a 2.6% increase from 2019’s target at Rp 2.17 quadrillion. For 2019, it is recorded that the state revenue has only reached Rp 898.8 trillion, not even half of the 2019’s target.

From the draft, it is hinted that about 20% are going to the education sector and 5% to healthcare, evidence from the President that the government is going all out to improve the quality of its people. The target is that Indonesia is “stunting-free” and all future generations in Indonesia can get a proper education.

In his address, Jokowi also answered the questions buzzing in his ears about moving the capital from Jakarta. The President revealed that moving the capital from Jakarta would also encourage economy and development to other regions as well, reducing the social gap between all regions in Indonesia.

Not only as a symbol and identity, But Jokowi also reflected that all along the pulse of the Indonesian economy was still centered in Jakarta and Java Island.

Jokowi emphasized that the moving would not be a deadweight for the 2020 State Budget as he wanted the State-Owned Enterprises (BUMN), private enterprise, and government-to-business cooperation (KPBU) schemes.

Source: https://finance.detik.com/berita-ekonomi-bisnis/d-4668540/ini-pidato-lengkap-jokowi-di-nota-keuangan-rapbn-2020