Indonesia’s Jokowi warns successor against ‘changing the vision’ on infrastructure, minerals for future growth

Outgoing president Joko Widodo is seen to be banking on his popularity to back a contender who will continue his policies and buttress his legacy

His ‘Golden Indonesia’ economic road map aims to bring the country’s per capita gross domestic product to US$25,000 by 2045 and create 10 million jobs

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Indonesian President Joko Widodo pictured on board a Jakarta-Bandung High-Speed Railway train in Bandung on Tuesday. Photo: Bloomberg

Published: 3:02pm, 20 Sep 2023

Indonesia’s outgoing President Joko Widodo said Southeast Asia’s largest economy can attain its fastest expansion in three decades under the next leader who will build on the reforms he’s trying to cement.

Jokowi, as the president is known, forecasts 6 per cent to 7 per cent gross domestic product growth by 2027 to 2028 as the country reaps the benefits of his policies that include an aggressive infrastructure roll-out and the push for onshore processing of mineral resources. The top end of the annual forecast would be the fastest pace since 1996, according to compiled data.

“It has to be prepared so that there’s continuity,” he said in an interview near Bandung on Tuesday. “Each leader shouldn’t have their own vision – changing the vision and the orientation would put us back at the start,” he said when asked whether his successor will continue his programmes.

Widodo inspects the construction site for a South Korean chemical company’s new complex in Banten province earlier this month. His aggressive building spree while in office has sometimes stirred criticism. Photo: South Korean Embassy Handout via EPA-EFE

Ending a decade of rule next year, Jokowi, 62, is seen to be banking on his enduring popularity to back a presidential contender who will continue his policies and buttress his legacy. That will enable the former furniture maker who was once a political outsider to stay influential for years to come. Jokowi himself may even be building his own political dynasty.

Jokowi’s “Golden Indonesia” – a 2019 campaign pledge – is promised to arise from an economic road map that aims to bring the country’s per capita GDP to US$25,000 by 2045 and create 10 million jobs. In his final year in office, he’s seeking incentives from the US for its green energy transition while carefully balancing ties with its most important economic partner: China.

The leader who swept to power in 2014 on a promise to lift GDP growth to 7 per cent has managed to keep domestic expansion steady around 5 per cent at a time when the global economy teeters on the edge of a recession. Jokowi said during his term, the external environment wasn’t favourable and the local infrastructure wasn’t sufficient, and that’s why he’s ramping up the roll-out.

Speaking at the train depot of Southeast Asia’s first ever high-speed rail, Jokowi touted his infrastructure push: 16 new airports, 18 new ports, 36 dams and more than 2,000km of toll roads.