Two Countries to Overtake Indonesia If No Transformation Is Made

Tuesday, 02 November 2021 – 23:23 GMT+7
Illustration of technology use / Credit: Ricardo, JPNN

jpnn.com, JAKARTA - The Indonesian government has been trying to maximize digital transformation to achieve the 2030 Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs).

It has expected that technology will be a drive to creating comfort and improving the quality of life so that the country becomes greener, sustainable, and inclusive.

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Vivi Yulaswati, an expert staff member for social affairs and poverty reduction at the Ministry of National Development Planning, who is also the Head of the National Secretariat of SDGs, stated that there are 17 goals, 169 targets, and based on the latest edition, 289 indicators, which would be the guidelines for achieving the SDGs.

"So far, about 70 percent of the SDGs have been on track, but there are still 30 percent that have not been achieved or require special attention because they are still stagnant or experiencing deterioration," said Vivi in Jakarta, Tuesday (2/11).

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Vivi said that the SDGs provided a solid foundation towards a more developed Indonesia, with the dream of staging the middle income trap in 2045.

Post-pandemic, it takes six percent of annual GDP growth to bring Indonesia into a developed country and free from the middle income trap, according to her.

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"Without economic transformation, Indonesia's per capita income will be overtaken by the Philippines in 2037 and Vietnam in 2043," said Vivi.

Furthermore, in national development, there are also environmental studies that become the backbone to encourage greener economic growth.

"One of [the studies] is low-carbon development. This concrete action is called a circular economy," said Vivi.

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She explained that the implementation of a circular economy must be carried out in five priority sectors, consisting of food and beverages, wholesale and retail trade, textiles, electronic equipment, and construction.

With that, continued Vivi, in 2030, it was predicted that the GDP would increase by Rp 593 to Rp 638 trillion, creating 4.4 million (net) jobs, 75 percent of which could be for women.

Then, it is also increasing household savings by 9 percent, reducing sectoral waste generation by 18 to 52 percent compared to the business-as usual (BaU) scenario, and reducing CO2e emissions by 126 million tons compared to the BaU scenario.

"A reduction in water use will be up to 6.3 billion cubic meters, compared to the BaU scenario," she explained.

According to Vivi, companies can contribute to the achievement of the SDGs by investing in communities, including marginalized groups in their value chain, paying fair prices, and applying standards to suppliers.

Not only that, they should also understand the impact of the business on the environment, save energy, and implement sustainable procurement.

In fact, said Vivi, 4 out of 10 companies or 40 percent of the 250 largest global companies have adopted the principles of a sustainable business.

Ravi Krishnaswamy, the SVP of Energy, Sustainability & Industrial in Asia Pacific at Frost & Sullivan, said the UN data on the status of SDGs showed that Southeast Asia had made significant progress in several SDGs goals.

However, there are still some concerns, especially in terms of poverty due to the Covid-19 pandemic.

Many economic activities could not run as usual so that their incomes were depressed, and some even lost their livelihoods.

"There are still millions of people who are not yet connected digitally, so the government needs to take various ways to strengthen infrastructure, connectivity between economic centers and supporting areas," he explained.

Alfian Manullang, the VP of Internet of Things at Telkomsel, explained the company's commitment to supporting digital transformation in the country.

The government and the company have carried out various initiatives regarding infrastructure through the Merah Putih program.

"It aims to provide network access in leading as well as disadvantaged and outermost areas. The Universal Service Obligation (USO) program targets to reach more than 11,000 villages without internet access," said Alfian.

The company also uses sustainable energy sources, such as solar power, hydropower, and fuel cells (electrochemical conversion devices that produce electricity with exhaust gas in the form of water vapor, with zero emission).

In addition, the company is also focused on delivering 5G technology, where the automation and robotization that this technology can provide will play a role in overcoming the current pandemic.

Marina Kacaribu, the Country Managing Director of Cisco Systems Indonesia, stated the company's commitment to providing digital technology and solutions for public and private organizations.

It is hoped that all parties can have a connected secured automated business that is sustainable and supports the national digitalization agenda.

"Of course, we have a big responsibility. There are two things that are very relevant for Cisco, namely the acceleration of digital transformation and sustainability," said Marina. (mcr10/mcr20/jpnn)

This news has been broadcast on JPNN.com with the title: 2 Negara Ini Bakal Menyalip Indonesia Jika Tidak Ada Transformasi Ekonomi