Number of Indonesia’s Rich Growing, but Poverty Remains: Analyst
The growth rate of the number of rich
people in Indonesia
is accelerating, according to economic observer Cyrillus Harinowo Hadiwerdoyo.
At a seminar on Monday at the Banjarmasin branch of Bank Indonesia , Harinowo said that
between 2010 and 2011, the number of wealthy Indonesians grew from 30 million
to 36 million. He predicted that by 2015, the number would rise to 60 million.
Despite the recent growth in the
Indonesian economy, Harinowo noted, a significant portion of the population
still lives in poverty. According to the World Bank, there are just over 30
million people living under the poverty line today.
He noted fast growth in the
automotive industry, citing Toyota ,
Suzuki, Ford and Daihatsu as manufacturers with planned expansions in
production capacity. He suggested that these plans are indicative of good
prospects and strong economic growth for the country, and representative of a
larger trend: Indonesia
has become a good market for high technology and farm products.
He referred as well to General
Motors’ plan to build a factory in Bekasi, announced last year.
“Many international companies such as
Starbucks have closed down their outlets, but in Indonesia the number of Starbucks
outlets has continued to increase—now reaching 120 units,” Harinowo said.
Comments and Opinion :
When the number of the rich and middle
class in Indonesia increased,
the level of poverty in Indonesia
should decrease. Often happens in Indonesia is rich become richer,
the poor become poorer. The government should pay attention to it. Because,
from poverty can lead to other problems.
Poverty is influenced by several
factors, such as low education, low labor productivity, lack of jobs,
inflation, low income, a lot of corruption, and others.
Some ways that the government can do
are creating jobs that can reducing unemployment, maintain the stability of
prices of basic commodities, provide the scholarships for poor students,
referral health services for poor families, provide training so people can have
skills, facilitating Small Medium Enterprises in order to increase revenue
through better facilities and can recruit other people for hired, improve the
infrastructure so that access to other places could be easier and cheaper, and
reduce the amount of corruption .