Indonesian President emphasizes need for quick-wit solutions to face global crises

Jakarta, The Gulf Observer: President Joko Widodo (Jokowi) highlighted that quick-witted individuals are needed to conceive clever solutions to ongoing conflicts and extraordinary conditions due to unstable geopolitical situations.

The president remarked that economists must think like Abu Nuwas, an eighth-century Arab poet known for his witty poems and humour to criticise the authority and featured as a character in some stories in the One Thousand and One Nights.

“I say to economists, do not use the existing principles and standards because we are facing extraordinary conditions that need clever ideas just like what Abu Nuwas thought,” the president stated at the 2022 Workshop of 100 Indonesian Economists event here, Wednesday.

Jokowi said that witty economists must not only work at the macro-economic level but also be mindful of micro-economic sectors to conceive the right solution to the extraordinary condition.

“The world is changing exponentially. The change was first triggered by the pandemic, which we all know, and we are fortunate that during the onset of the pandemic, Indonesia was not under the lockdown regime,” Jokowi remarked.

The president spoke of having considered all aspects thoroughly while receiving the suggestion to impose a lockdown. Jokowi said he could not imagine how Indonesia would fare if the lockdown policy were to be imposed.

“How it would affect our economy? How about our social and political aspects? At the start of the pandemic, perhaps close to 70 countries imposed lockdown policies. In my cabinet, 80 percent of the ministers asked me to impose the lockdown, while 80 percent of the residents are supportive of the imposition. I then meditated and contemplated: do we need the lockdown policy?” he expounded.

Following his contemplation, the president decided not to impose the lockdown policy.

“And (the decision) is correct because if (we impose the) lockdown, (our economy) might decline by 17 percent,” Jokowi noted.

He said that the COVID-19 pandemic presented opportunities to learn about facing extraordinary conditions and consolidating unified policies from the central government, regional authorities, and until the lowest local authority, and with the involvement of national stakeholders.

“We need to continue (the consolidation) because while facing wars and energy, food, and financial crises, that is the best we can do, which is to consolidate from the top to down level, because I believe that the political and economic landscape will shift to the direction which we do not know yet,” the president remarked.