Irvan Tisnabudi, Ulma Haryanto & Nurfika Osman – It took two days and more than 1,500 people to make a wish list for the next 100 days and five years of government.
Those are the bald figures that describe the first-ever National Summit, which ended on Friday evening with promises from the administration that each of the hundreds of ideas put forward to help drive Indonesia forward would be considered.
"In these past two days, we have engaged in a task that has never been done, that is, a process of intensive consultation with stakeholders," Vice President Boediono said in his closing address.
He said that some of the input would be forwarded to the president "to be processed further to sharpen the 100-day and five-year government programs."
Coordinating Minister for the Economy Hatta Rajasa also said that the government would take heed of all ideas, without e xception. "All valuable input will be noted. There are hundreds of precious ideas," Hatta said, adding that the suggestions would be compiled for submission to the vice president.
Opening the summit on Thursday, President Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono said he expected the gathering to deliver input on how to remove the bureaucratic and financial obstacles that have hampered growth over the years.
Wisnu Wardana, head of the organizing committee, said that a total of 1,300 people took part in Friday's session and 1,537 participated on Thursday's opening day.
The summit was organized by the Indonesian Chamber of Commerce and Industry (Kadin) and the nation's ministries. The large part of those attending were government officials, academics and business leaders.
While the first day saw discussions of challenges to the economy and ways to deal with them, the second day focused on welfare, security and politics.
The coordinating minister for politics, legal and security affairs, Joko Suyanto, said that among the issues discussed by the summit commissions was the need to coordinate regulations and laws at national and regional levels, as well as between the various ministries and institutions.
Other input included the need to ensure legal certainty for entrepreneurs involved with government programs, a streamlining of how permits and licenses are issued and a boost in corruption-fighting measures.
Coordinating Minister for People's Welfare Agung Laksono said the government had lowered its poverty rate target from 8 to 10 percent by 2014 to about 6 percent. According to the Central Statistics Agency (BPS), 37 million Indonesians live below the poverty line.
The government's target, Agung said, could be achieved by empowering local communitiesby expanding microcredit lending to 15 million small-scale entrepreneurs, with the government contributing Rp 20 trillion ($2.1 billion) to the program each year.
The loans, he said, could encourage the growth of micro-, small- and medium-size enterprises while providing employment.
Deputy Welfare Minister Sujana Royat said the government also needed to collaborate better with local administrations in making their programs more effective, and said that the issue would be subject to review.