Foreign International Highlights RI’s Future After Jokowi Steps Down, What Will It Look Like? News – 1 hour ago

Jakarta, CNBC Indonesia – Next year, Joko Widodo (Jokowi) will leave the position of President of Indonesia. Economic media from London, England, The Economist highlighting several things during Jokowi’s leadership and Indonesia’s future after he steps down.

The page writes an article with the title What will Indonesia look like after Jokowi leaves?. The article begins with Indonesia when Jokowi led and was described as a ‘global statesman’.

“He hosted leaders from across the region at the Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN) Summit in Jakarta on September 5 to 7,” wrote The Economistquoted on Sunday (22/10/2023).


“In August he bagged economic deals during a tour of Africa. He attended the G20 leaders’ summit in Delhi on September 9, having hosted the event last year, and also plans to visit Saudi Arabia in the near future,” it added The Economist.

The Economist also highlights Jokowi’s impression within the country. With his soft and simple style of speech, he is said to be widely liked.

“Jokowi’s gentle and simple style makes Jokowi, as he is called, one of the most liked leaders in the world. His approval rating hovers around 80%,” explained The Economist Again.

Even The Economist equates this achievement as only being approached by the Prime Minister of India, Narendra Modi.

Speculation about who Jokowi’s replacement will be is also a question. Including whether the economy will continue to grow in the future and whether his successor can continue the policies made by the current government.

“But three major uncertainties haunt his legacy: whether Indonesia’s economy will continue to grow, whether his successor will maintain his policies, and whether the country can maintain its balancing act in a divided world,” the page explained.

Economic Record

The economic growth carried out during the Jokowi era is considered quite good. The Economist stated that Indonesia has become the country with the fifth fastest growth among the world’s 30 major economies since taking office in 2014.

Since 9 years ago, GDP has reportedly increased cumulatively by 43%. Even the IMF projects that this achievement can continue to progress.

“This is largely due to enormous infrastructure development. The world’s fourth most populous country consists of more than 13,000 islands, many of which lack basic facilities,” the media said.

“Often depicted in a hard hat, Jokowi has built airports, ports, power plants, dams and has built thousands of kilometers of highways and railways. He has used his popularity to woo political parties, state-owned enterprises and influential tycoons in his country.”

Archipelago

The new capital city (IKN) called Nusantara is also highlighted The Economist. The project is said to be Jokowi’s strategy and the spotlight will be on whether uncertainty due to the election can make the project successful.

The Economist wrote that Jokowi believes the importance of IKN, because a quarter of the current capital city of Jakarta will be submerged by 2050. However, critics consider this project to be unrealistic.

“Critics say the US$34 billion project, which will be completed in 2045, is unrealistic. The government says it will cover 20% of the projected costs, with the rest funded by domestic and foreign investors,” he said.

“However, more than four years after the project was announced, not a single foreign investor has signed a binding contract to fund the city,” he said.

China and the US

Regarding investors, Jokowi is reported as a figure who can attract foreign parties to support a number of Indonesian projects. The Economist noted that foreign investment will reach US$45 billion in 2022, or an increase of 45% from the previous year.

Most of the investment comes from China and flows into mining and processing nickel, the world’s largest reserve of the metal, which is essential for producing electric vehicle batteries. Dependence on China also makes Indonesia limited in geopolitical maneuvers.

“Despite being the country with the largest Muslim majority in the world, Indonesia remains silent about the persecution of Uighurs, the dominant Muslim ethnic group originating from China’s Xinjiang region for fear of the economic impact,” he added.

Apart from that, relations with the United States (US) are also highlighted. The close relationship with China makes it difficult for Jokowi to reach an agreement with the White House.

“Indonesia really wants a trade agreement with America that includes metals so that Indonesian nickel sales in America become cheaper and less dependent on China. However, the American government is concerned about China’s dominance in the nickel industry in Indonesia, so an agreement is still difficult to achieve,” he wrote.

New Presidential Candidate

The Economist also wrote profiles of next year’s presidential candidates. One of them is Prabowo Subianto, who lost twice to Jokowi in the previous two elections.

“Prabowo is a figure accused of allowing human rights violations to occur in Timor-Leste in the 1980s, but he strongly denies this. He emphasizes his nationalism, supports food autonomy, and criticizes the practice of direct elections in Indonesia,” wrote the media.

Second is the former governor of Central Java, Ganjar Pranowo. He has appointed Arsjad Rasjid, who is chairman of KADIN, as his campaign chairman, and is a signal of his seriousness in the economic sector.

“Showing that he may be more serious than Prabowo about economic reform,” wrote the page.

Next is Anies Baswedan. The former governor of Jakarta and former education minister in Jokowi’s cabinet have votes far behind the other two candidates.

Anies lost in the first round of the 2017 DKI Jakarta Governor election. However, he ultimately won in the second round, supported by Conservative Islamic voters.

“He recently secured the support of the country’s largest Muslim civil society organization, an important voting bloc, opening up the possibility of a three-way race,” it added.

The policy directions of the three were also highlighted by the media. Ganjar and Prabowo are likely to maintain Jokowi’s policies, including the ban on exports of raw materials and IKN.

Quoting Jokowi’s biographer, Ben Bland, victory is not in the person who will continue Jokowi’s policies. Jokowi’s support will help any candidate, but does not guarantee the winner will maintain his legacy.

“Elections in Indonesia are more concerned with personality than policy,” he concluded.

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