Jakarta Globe, May 23, 2014
Indonesia's outgoing president Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono has been honored by the World Economic Forum. (Reuters Photo/Toru Hanai) |
Manila.
Indonesian President Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono was awarded the Global
Statesmanship Award on Friday at the 23rd World Economic Forum on East Asia for
his achievements during his time in office.
He was the
third recipient of the award since the WEF was established in 1971. The two
other recipients were Felipe Calderon in 2012, when he was president of Mexico,
and Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva in 2010, when he was president of Brazil.
“I stand
before you now with a sense of pride for what Indonesia has become today,” said
Yudhoyono, whose second five-year term ends in October. “In a world marked by
political turbulence, economic uncertainty, and strategic tensions, Indonesia
does have a good story to tell.
“We have
achieved that critical point of no return in our democratic development. We
have proved to ourselves and to the world that we do not have to choose between
democracy and development, and that indeed we can have both political freedom
and high economic growth at the same time.”
On
Thursday, Yudhonoyo reiterated that the 10-member Association of Southeast
Asian Nations (Asean) could reach its development agenda to double the region’s
combined gross domestic product to around $4.4 trillion by 2030. With millions
of poor people across the region, Asean could also try to reduce the region’s
poverty rate to 9.3 percent in the same time frame, he said. World Bank data
show 43.3 percent of Indonesia’s population lived on less than $2 a day in
2011, compared to 52.7 percent in 2009.
“But as an
optimist, I do see the glass as half full,” Yudhoyono said on Thursday. “I
believe our generation is now endowed with the resources and knowhow to beat
age-old problems of poverty, deprivation and conflict.”
Indonesia
has embarked on a plan to support economic growth, aid the poor, promote jobs
and protect the environment, he said.
“The
overall purpose is to attain sustainable growth with equity,” Yudhoyono said on
Thursday. “By pursuing this strategy over the past 10 years, we have been able
to stimulate growth, reduce inequity and alleviate people from poverty.”
Susilo
Bambang Yudhoyono was presented the award at a launch sponsored by the Lippo
Group, which is the parent company of the Jakarta Globe.
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