and
East Asia and Pacific Region, World Bank
|-----------------------------+------------------------------------|
| | |
| | |
| (Embedded image moved to | Spending for Development: |
| file: pic10556.jpg) | Making the Most of Indonesia's New |
| | Opportunities |
| | - 10 years after Beginning of |
| Tuesday, July 10 , 2007 | Financial Crisis |
| 12:00 pm | |
| World Bank J Building, | |
| J1-050 | In July 1997 the East Asia |
| Followed by a light lunch | Financial Crisis started, hitting |
| reception | Indonesia's economy worse than any |
| | other in the region. The country |
| | underwent a sharp economic |
| | contraction, pronounced |
| | depreciation and inflation rates, |
| | and severe political turmoil. |
| | After a decade of successful |
| | macroeconomic management, radical |
| | decentralization, and various bold |
| | policy decisions, Indonesia is |
| | finally in a position of fiscal |
| | strength. Since 2006, Indonesia |
| | has freed up "fiscal space" of |
| | about US$15 billion. Equivalent to |
| | around 7 percent of GDP, this is |
| | the largest increase in additional |
| | fiscal resources since the 1973-74 |
| | oil revenue wind fall, providing a |
| | tremendous window of opportunity |
| | for Indonesia to upgrade its |
| | public services. If Indonesia is |
| | to stay competitive, then it is |
| | crucial that some of these |
| | precious additional resources are |
| | channeled towards higher quality |
| | and more accessible secondary and |
| | tertiary education, an improved |
| | and more equitable health system, |
| | and better infrastructure |
| | provision. |
| | |
| | |
|-----------------------------+------------------------------------|
"This book is the first Public Expenditure Review to cover national
and sub-national spending in Indonesia. It sheds light on the
impact of the country's transition towards decentralization and the
new ways in which public resources are now administered and
allocated."
"Indonesia has now entered a new era in which more fiscal resources
are available for the first time since before the economic crisis.
We are now facing problems of success and we need to use the new
opportunities to upgrade our infrastructure, education and health
systems. While there are no easy answers, this report provides
valuable assistance in assessing the best ways forward if Indonesia
is to achieve its national development goals in the next few years."
Prof Ali Wardhana ─ Former Minister of Finance and Coordinating
Minister for Economics, Finance, Industry and Development
Chair
Jim Adams
Vice President of the East Asia and Pacific Region, World Bank
In the capacity as Vice President, Mr. Adams has overall
responsibility for World Bank operations in one of the world's most
dynamic regions, covering more than a dozen states ranging from the
world's most populous country --China-- to the smallest and most
remote Pacific Islands states.
Presentation by Author
Wolfgang Fengler
Senior Economist in the Indonesia Resident Mission, World Bank and
main author of "Spending for Development"
Mr. Fengeler has been leading the World Bank's public finance and
decentralization program and has particularly engaged in the Aceh
reconstruction program. He and has team have also produced several
regional expenditure reviews, led the Aceh and Yogyakarta
reconstruction analysis, including the flagship "Aceh and Nias one
year after the tsunami". He has also been the task manager past and
current Development Policy Loans.
Panelists
Homi Kharas
Visiting fellow at the Brookings Institution
Mr. Kharas is a distinguished authority in development economics and
he served as the Chief Economist of the East Asia and Pacific Region
of the World Bank from 2001-2007. He has published widely in areas
such as external debt and developing countries, foreign borrowing
and fiscal risks and contingent liabilities. He also edited
(togetehr with indermit Gill) the recent and well-acclaimed book "An
East Asian Renaissance: Ideas for Economic Growth".
Vikram Nehru
Director of the Economic Policy and Debt Department, Poverty
Reduction & Economic Management Network, World Bank
Mr. Nehru was the former Lead Economist for the World Bank's
Indonesia Program during and after the East Asian Crisis
(1997-2002). He has led most of crisis and post-crisis economic
dialogue for the World Bank in Indonesia and published among others:
"Indonesia: Imperative for Reform", "Indonesia: Seizing the
Opportunity", "Indonesia: From Crisis to Opportunity", "Indonesia in
Crisis". He has also had extensive research experience on issues of
economic growth, capital stock measurement, financial sector policy,
industrial and trade policy, and on the implications of global
trends and developments on the economic prospects of developing
countries.
About the InfoShop
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serves as a forum for substantial debate on international
development. Our extensive events program consists of more than 250
events over the past two years and has hosted many internationally
recognized speakers including Queen Noor, Francis Fukuyama, Jeffrey
Sachs, Amartya Sen, Joseph Stiglitz, Thomas Friedman, and Carly
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space at headquarters and provides internal and external audiences
with over 15,000 titles published by the World Bank, international
organizations, and other publishers on development issues.
For more information, visit: www.worldbank.org/infoshop
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