Indonesia works harder to improve infrastructure competitiveness

Jakarta (VNA) – Indonesian President Joko Widodo has underscored the need for the country to improve its Global Competitiveness Index (GCI) in the infrastructure sector, which is ranked 51st in 2023.

At the ceremony to mark the 78th Public Infrastructure Service Day on December 4, he said Indonesia’s position in infrastructure competitiveness globally has improved from 2015 to 2023, albeit not significant.

Indonesia's ranking in the GCI, which is assessed by the Institute for Management Development (IMD) Competitiveness Center, was based on several indicators, including cost efficiency in logistics.

To improve cost efficiency in logistics, the Indonesian government has, since 2015, doubled the allocation of infrastructure budgets to build roads, ports, airports, clean water installations, dams, irrigation, as well as health facilities, schools, and cheap markets.

According to the leader, the Ministry of Public Works and Public Housing (PUPR) has built 42 dams, with the work to construct 17 dams underway until 2024.

The PUPR Ministry has so far built a total of 1.2 million hectares of irrigation lands and 2,143 kilometers of toll road infrastructure.

He also noted that the government has built 8.2 million houses under the One Million Houses Program.

The president also remarked that the government has built 5,700 km of roads in the last nine years.

In addition, the PUPR has contributed in the work of supporting infrastructure in international agendas, such as renovating the Gelora Bung Karno Stadium (GBK) for the 2018 ASEAN Games, and improving the venue for the G20 Summit, the location of the ASEAN Summit, and several tourism destinations./.