By: Almira Fadhillah) *
The Jokowi-Ma’ruf government continues to be committed to creating Indonesia’s economic transformation. These efforts are needed so that the Indonesian economy is out of the comfort zone and continues to grow amid global economic turmoil.
Boiled frog anecdotes are often used as examples in explaining comfort zones. The anecdote describes that initially a frog in a pan filled with water will feel comfortable. Even when the pan is placed on the stove and the water begins to boil, the frog remains unmoved because it feels comfortable. However, slowly the water temperature began to change. Little by little the water became hot, then cooked, and the frog turned into a boiled frog.
The current condition of the global economy can be similar to the anecdote. Many countries or companies feel comfortable with the economic conditions that have been achieved, but later realized too late and eventually slumped due to the crisis. The comfort zone often makes forget to develop so that it never moves forward. In fact, the comfort zone can be a time bomb that is destructive, because it does not answer the challenges of the times.
Look in the mirror with the wealth and achievements of Indonesia’s economy today. Indonesia is very prone to being trapped by a comfort zone. The state must be aware of the comfort zone, because one day the wealth of natural resources will definitely run out over time. If we do not immediately get ready and move from the comfort zone, of course we will be very difficult with various crises that come one day.
We should be grateful that in the second period of President Joko Widodo’s administration, the government has priority programs that can move Indonesia from its comfort zone. One of them is the Economic Transformation Priority Program. In his inaugural address, President Joko Widodo was determined to bring Indonesia transformed from dependence on natural resources to the competitiveness of modern manufacturing and services, which have high added value for the prosperity of the nation, for the sake of social justice for all Indonesian people.
The modern manufacturing and service sector is indeed a strategic sector that can be an engine of economic development, because the sector will have multiple effects ranging from increasing the ability to absorb labor, increasing the value of capital capitalization, to the ability to create added value from each input of processed raw materials.
Regarding this matter, President Joko Widodo asked his line of ministers to accelerate efforts to transform the economy into a country that is no longer only exporting raw goods but which is able to provide added value. From what we previously exported as raw materials for nickel, bauxite, alumina, coal, etc., one by one will be arranged so that we can export in the form of semi-finished or finished goods. Added value will provide competitiveness to our country, including industrial incentives for SMEs and industries in rural areas.
In other words, the development of the natural resource processing industry in all production centers such as mining, plantations, agriculture, fisheries, livestock and so on is a very important first step to be made in order to accelerate transformation.
Seeing the magnitude of the challenges that will be faced by Indonesia in economic transformation, synergy and support from all sectors in the economic sector, ranging from the monetary and financial sectors, the fiscal sector, to the technical sectors of the relevant ministries are needed to be able to effectively coordinate and implement each policy.
The government together with the people must be able to work together, work hard, work smart, and focus so that the growth and transformation targets as planned can be achieved maximally. Optimistic attitude must continue to be improved, let’s make the economic development that has been achieved so far as a foundation in economic transformation, so that we are able to increase Indonesia’s economic competitiveness in seizing global market opportunities.
) * Post-graduate student at Univ. Gunadarma