Jakarta – The government is doing almost nothing to support research and technology development in the country, investing less than half a percent of the nation's total gross domestic product in this important sector, scientists say.

Indonesian Institute of Sciences (LIPI) deputy head Lukman Hakim said despite the government declaring 2005 and 2006 the Indonesian years for science, it had only invested 0.3 percent of national GDP in research and technology.

This amount was far lower than other Southeast Asian countries, which were investing an average of 2.2 percent of their GDP in the sector, Lukman said Wednesday after addressing a national seminar on chemistry.

Indonesia's research and technology budget stands at Rp 1.6 trillion (US$173 million), with about half going into research.

Lukman said the small allocation showed the government and businesses lacked the will to improve the situation. The scant attention paid to research and technology also helped ensure Indonesia was unable to compete globally, he said.

The business sector, in particular, had neglected long-term investment for research, while it had no problem spending on advertising. This year's projected private sector spending on advertising could reach Rp 28 trillion, he said.

Lukman said the lack of a long-term view was also evident in the way many businesses were treating the environment. "The business sector is ruining the environment with deforestation and pollution without thinking about the consequences."

The country also is being flooded with imported products, often of a substandard quality, which Indonesians could produce better if they had the right training. "We prefer buying cheap imported products, which make us dependent on other countries, rather than developing our own products," Lukman said.

LIPI researcher Dipo Alam said Indonesians needed to change the way they looked at the world. Political events, such as local elections and the disorder they cause, dominate public discourse, he said. "Meanwhile, the public and especially policy-makers have forgotten to give their attention to research and technology," he said.

Dipo said only by prioritizing the sector could the government lead a change of thinking, which would bring more people into research and technology fields.