Sri Mulyani: Productivity Key to Sustainable Economic Recovery

TEMPO.CO, Denpasar - Finance Minister Sri Mulyani Indrawati said the issue on human resources is the most important one, as it is highly relevant with the world`s ongoing economic recovery, that has not been accompanied by an increase in productivity. Sri said that investment in human capital needs to be supported in a bid to accelerate economic recovery.

"Economic recovery cannot be sustained without productivity improvement. So productivity is an important issue to improve the global economy, making its recovery last," she said on Thursday, March 1. 

The minister made the statement during the International Seminar on Human Capital as a New Driving Force of Economy. The seminar is part of the Voyage to Indonesia program, held to welcome the annual IMF-World Bank meeting in Bali next October.

Read: Sri Mulyani to Speak in the IMF and World Bank Annual Forum

The seminar's purpose is to formulate policy recommendations to solve problems in the field of human resources. 

Sri Mulyani said that human capital can alleviate poverty and crunch economic gap around the globe. She also highlighted how human capital is also facing changes in technology, which—albeit potential—also reduces humans' chance to get jobs. It is estimated that 5 million jobs will be lost due to technological advancement.

The minister said that qualified human capital is seen from three aspects: education, health, and gender equality.

Sri Mulyani said that all nations in the world are challenged to utilize existing resources to improve human capital. "Even if a country is rich in natural resources, if the human quality is not good then the resources cannot be used," she said.

BISNIS.COM