The Coordinating Minister for Economic Affairs of Indonesia, Airlangga Hartarto, was awarded an honorary doctorate from Gyeongsang National University (GNU) in Jinju, South Korea, on Tuesday (May 21).
GNU’s Rector, Professor Kwon Soon-Ki, conferred the honorary doctorate in recognition of Hartarto’s efforts and contributions to promoting economic, trade, investment, and educational cooperation between the two countries.
In light of this honor, Universitas Gadjah Mada (UGM)’s Rector, Professor Ova Emilia, congratulated Minister Hartarto and his family.
“I hope this recognition further enhances Mr. Hartarto’s dedication to advancing Indonesia’s economy and serves as an inspiration for future generations,” she said on Wednesday (May 22).
The rector highlighted that Airlangga Hartarto, an alumnus of the Mechanical Engineering program at the UGM Faculty of Engineering (FT UGM) class of 1987, has significantly contributed to maintaining Indonesia’s economic stability amidst the global economic downturn following the COVID-19 pandemic.
“We should appreciate that Indonesia successfully navigated the economic contraction caused by the COVID-19 pandemic,” she stated.
In his acceptance speech, Airlangga Hartarto outlined Indonesia’s economic blueprint for the next two decades, Indonesia Vision 2045. According to Hartarto, the Indonesian government aims to expand the economy sixfold from its current nominal GDP.
“National per capita income will reach USD 30,000 by 2045, well above the minimum threshold for high-income countries,” he revealed.
Based on this vision, Indonesia is expected to rank among the five largest economies in the world, currently being 16th. Other goals include price stability, creating quality jobs to reduce unemployment, expanding the middle class, reducing poverty, and ensuring equity among the more than 300 million population by 2045.
To achieve the 2045 Vision, Hartarto emphasized that Indonesia’s economy needs to maintain an average annual real GDP growth of around 6-7%. While sustaining such growth is not easy, especially amid global challenges and domestic structural economic transformation, Hartarto remains optimistic.
He believes the government’s forward-looking strategy will be successful, supported by policies to diversify the economic structure, boost productivity and competitiveness, and commit to green and sustainable development.
“We must safeguard our economy from global uncertainties and accelerate the transformation towards a new green and digital economic ecosystem. Additionally, we are facing demographic changes as the country enters an aging population phase,” the UGM alumnus concluded.
Author: Gusti Grehenson
Photo: Instagram of Airlangga Hartarto