Asia Competitiveness Institute (ACI) conducted its second webinar as part of the Subnational Competitiveness Webinar Series. The webinar focused on the East Kalimantan province, and was titled “The Inaugural Provincial Dialogue on the Economy and Development 2020 for East Kalimantan”. Those in attendance included senior officeholders from East Kalimantan government agencies, members of East Kalimantan’s Indonesian Employers’ Association (APINDO). and academics from the Mulawarman University.
Watch the video to view highlights from the East Kalimantan Provincial Dialogue and download the full webinar report below.
STAKEHOLDERS’ INPUTS:
BUSINESS SECTOR
Mr. Slamet, the head of DPP APINDO East Kalimantan, highlighted that the initiative to diversify the province’s economy is hindered by East Kalimantan’s labour market structure. While East Kalimantan has a large labour force, it has a low labour absorption rate. This infers that the skillset of the workforce does not meet industry demand.
GOVERNMENT SECTOR
Mr. Saur of the Regional Development Planning Agency of East Kalimantan expressed the importance of diversifying East Kalimantan’s economy. As the current economic model is highly resource-dependent, East Kalimantan risks depleting its natural resources.
ACADEMIC SECTOR
Prof. Eny Rochaida of Mulawarman University stated that while East Kalimantan is expected to experience an economic contraction in 2020, development projects in the province will continue either in this year or the following year. the province is currently focusing on a smooth economic transformation to ensure that it can remain competitive and resilient in both good and bad times.
CENTRAL BANK REPRESENTATIVE
Mr. Tutuk of Bank Indonesia (BI) shared that there are a few sectors with the potential to bolster East Kalimantan’s economy as well as reduce the province’s reliance on coal. For example, the construction and agricultural sectors not only have better economic growth rates, but also do not rely on coal as heavily as the mining and manufacturing sectors. Mr. Tutuk also identified the tourism sector as one of the drivers of East Kalimantan’s GRDP growth.
ACI PERSPECTIVES 