The Head of Trade Policy Agency at the Ministry of Trade (Kemendag), Kasan, stated that export earnings play a vital role in driving Indonesia's economic growth and achieving its goal of becoming a developed country by 2045. Kasan emphasized that one of the indicators of becoming a developed nation is per capita income. "The role of export earnings in economic growth is believed to be one of the driving sectors towards Indonesia's goal of becoming a developed country by 2045, 100 years after independence," Kasan said during the Gambir Trade Talk #10 event titled 'Utilizing Export Earnings as an Instrument for National Economic Growth' held online on Wednesday (June 21, 2023).
He further explained, "The aspiration is to become a developed country, and one of the indicators in the economic aspect is per capita income." To achieve developed country status, Kasan mentioned that Indonesia's per capita income should reach a minimum of USD 23,000. Currently, Indonesia's per capita income is only around USD 4,000. "As far as I know, based on the plan drafted by colleagues at Bappenas under the coordination of the Coordinating Ministry for Economic Affairs, the minimum per capita income target is USD 23,000. Currently, we are at around USD 4,000, so it means it needs to increase sixfold," he stated.
He also revealed that export earnings were still in surplus, amounting to USD 16 billion as of May 2023. "The current facts and data show that our export earnings until May still have a surplus of around USD 16 billion," Kasan said. Furthermore, he mentioned that looking at the economic history of developed countries, it took more than 100 years after independence to achieve developed status.
