Indonesia has the potential to become an ASEAN economic axis

Friday, the Chairman of the Indonesian Chamber of Commerce and Industry (KADIN), Arsjad Rasjid, stated that Indonesia has the capacity to become the ASEAN axis of the global economy.

Indonesia will preside over the ASEAN Summit in 2019, and Rasjid has been named chair of the 2023 ASEAN Corporate Advisory Council (BAC), an important platform for the ASEAN business community.

“ASEAN has a total population of 600 million people. Indonesia contributes 275 million people, the majority of whom are of working age and prepared to sustain a regional economy that will continue to grow in the future. As next year’s ASEAN Chair, we must support enhanced productivity and connectivity throughout the region,” He stated in a declaration.

ASEAN had become one of the “underdogs” in inter-regional economic competitiveness until the previous two decades, when it unleashed its prowess as an economic force.

The region has transformed from one of the world’s poorest to one of the most attractive emerging markets.

In 1970, ASEAN’s gross domestic product (GDP) was barely $29 billion, but by 2021, it will have increased to $3.6 trillion.

In fact, he added, ASEAN’s economic development rate surpasses that of other developing regions, including Eastern Europe, Africa, Latin America, and Central Asia.

Rasjid remarked that the core of economic growth in the ASEAN region was the business community.

In the midst of a change in global influence from superpowers to the Indo-Pacific region, he highlighted that the business sector should promote the competitiveness, inclusiveness, and unity of the ASEAN community.

“In order to make ASEAN a global economic axis, ASEAN must be able to boost productivity and connectivity among its member states,” he stated.

Similar to the B20 2022 Summit, Indonesia will provide derivative plans that will be pursued within the two main topics of digitalization and sustainable development at the ASEAN BAC 2023.

He emphasized the success of the B20 Summit, which led in 68 memorandums of understanding and investments totaling over US$18 billion.

He anticipated that the ASEAN BAC will enable Indonesia to attain a comparable level of success by increasing investment in projects that align with the two ASEAN BAC 2023 priority themes.

“In order to boost regional prosperity, ASEAN must be an attractive menu for global investors,” he remarked.