Jakarta, CNN Indonesia —
Co-Captain of the National Team Anies Baswedan-Muhaimin Iskandar (AMIN National Team), Thomas Trikasih Lembong alias Tom Lembong admitted that he regretted being part of the President’s government Jokowi.
Regret because at that time the strategy he implemented to improve the Indonesian economy was not completely successful.
Tom Lembong was once part of President Joko Widodo’s government, specifically in the 2014-2019 Working Cabinet. He held the position of Minister of Trade (Mendag) from 12 August 2015 to 27 July 2016 and Head of the Investment Coordinating Board (BKPM) from 27 July 2016 to 23 October 2019.
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“The more I delve into the economic data, I am really, really sad. Really sad, really concerned. And I have quite a big feeling of regret, regret because I was once part of the government,” said Tom Lembong, in the discussion “Harsa Youth : Proud to Speak” at On3 Senayan, GBK, Jakarta, Friday (9/2) evening as quoted from detik.com.
“Including the times when we implemented a strategy which, according to the data I saw, was somewhat unsuccessful. If we wanted to work harder, we would fail a lot,” he continued.
According to him, one form of failure in question is that the Indonesian Government has been unable to overcome the condition where in the last 10 years the number of the middle class in Indonesia has not experienced significant growth.
Furthermore, he also explained data which he thought was more accurate and representative of reality than just data on Indonesia’s economic growth in Gross Domestic Product (GDP). He also explained motorbike sales data.
Tom Lembong said that in 2013 there was a peak in motorbike sales, reaching 7.9 million units sold. However, from year to year, this figure has decreased, especially due to the pandemic. However, until now motorbike sales are only around 5 million units per year.
“In the last ten years our middle class has not developed. The best minimum is stagnant, not increasing and there is quite a large potential for our middle class to shrink because once again, for me the most appropriate indicator is the number of motorbikes,” he said.
The same graphic shape can also be seen from the growth in purchases of cars and electronic goods, where the numbers continue to decline from year to year. According to him, this condition can occur due to inequality.
“In the last ten years, the focus of economic policy has been investment. As a former Head of BKPM, I know very well, I was once a salesman for this republic to attract investors, attract investment. But most of the investment went into sectors that were capital intensive, not capital intensive. work,” he explained.
Tom Lembong said investment flows focused on industries such as mining to plantations. However, based on his assessment, only around 20 percent enters Indonesia and can be enjoyed by the public.
Therefore, according to him, it is time for the government to help encourage the development of the service sector.
[Gambas:Video CNN]
“Industry is only 18 percent of our economy. Not even a fifth. Meanwhile, the service sector, if added up, is 52 percent of our economy. So, education services, health services, financial services, banking, transportation services, transportation, hotels, people “We often forget that the property sector, real estate is part of the service sector, housing, offices, buildings, construction services, those are all service sectors. So, the service sector is labor intensive,” he said.
“Whether it’s a hotel, whether it’s a truck driver, whether it’s a bus driver, whether it’s an airplane pilot, whether it’s a flight attendant, it’s all employment opportunities. The employment opportunities there are in the works, yes. If we go to the nickel smelter, there’s not much work , let alone battery factories or electric car factories,” he concluded.
(detik.com/agt)