The Indonesian government is targeting to reduce extreme poverty to 2.0–1.5 percent by 2023, National Development Planning Minister and head of the National Development Planning Board (Bappenas), Suharso Monoarfa, has said.
“We can reduce poverty approximately in 2.5 million–3 million people, and it is expected to keep decreasing and be zero to 1 percent by 2024-end,” he said here at the kick-off meeting on the Government Work Plan (RKP) for 2023 on Thursday.
Accelerating the elimination of extreme poverty is also expected to increase the proportion of the population covered by social security programs to 91 percent and farmers’ and fishers’ terms of trade to 103–105 and 105–107 percent respectively, he noted.
The goal is part of the eight focuses of the 2023 RKP, which will seek to boost productivity to bring about sustainable and inclusive economic transformation, he said.
“Through the efforts of improving the quality of human resources, the prevalence of stunting in toddlers is expected to be reduced to 17.5 percent in 2023 and is expected to be 14 percent by the end of 2024,” Monoarfa said.
Furthermore, the third focus of the 2023 RKP will be the handling of unemployment by increasing jobs in proportion to the percentage of employed people with middle to high skills, which is pegged at 43 percent, he informed.
The next goal of RKP in 2023 will be to encourage business recovery through tourism revitalization and micro, small, and medium enterprises (MSMEs) development, the minister said.
The government expects entrepreneurial growth in 2023 to reach 3.5 percent, with tourism foreign exchange value reaching US$1.76 billion–US$6.06 billion, he added.
Industry revitalization and the strengthening of applicable research through downstreaming have also been included in the 2023 Government Work Plan, Monoarfa informed.
“It is expected that in 2023, the growth of the processing industry will be 5.4–5.9 percent, so the industry’s contribution to the processing industry GDP will increase to 20.6 percent,” he explained.
In 2023, the government will also accelerate the development of basic infrastructures such as clean water and sanitation, digital and connectivity infrastructure, low-carbon development, energy transition, and basic facilities in the new capital Nusantara, he said.
For achieving those goals, the government has readied some major projects that will serve as a reference while drafting ministries’ and institutions’ budget and regional government work plans, he added.
Source: Antara News