TEMPO.CO, Jakarta - President Joko "Jokowi" Widodo expressed his optimism towards Indonesia becoming a fully-developed nation. The President hoped to rank Indonesia as the world's fourth best country in 2045.

During his opening speech at the opening of the National Development Planning Conference (Musrenbangnas), Jokowi stated that the nation must work hard to achieve that dream. One of the many ways that can be taken, according to the President, is to escape the middle-income trap.

"First and foremost is infrastructure. Equal development must be achieved. Without it, don't ever dream of Indonesia progressing to be a country with the world’s fourth or fifth economy," said Jokowi at the Shangrila Hotel in South Jakarta on Thursday, May 9, 2019.

Equal development throughout Indonesia must be synchronized between central and regional governments, and share responsibility in developing national strategic development plans such as toll roads, harbors, and airports.

The President also pointed out that bureaucracy and structural reform is truly needed to achieve the expected efficiency within central or regional government agencies. One example he deemed needs fixing is in the realm of business permits.

The third element to improve is to constantly improve Indonesia’s human resources, which is not an easy task considering 51 percent of the country's workforces are primary school graduates.

DIAS PRASONGKO