Yogyakarta – Friday, September 13, 2019. Using the theme “Thriving Indonesia: Reinforcing Strategies to Boost Productivity and Increase Competitiveness”, the Preheating seminar program towards the 9th Annual International Forum for Economic Development and Public Policy (AIFED) 2019 was held at the BRI Auditorium of the Master of Science and Doctoral Program (MD) FEB UGM 3rd floor. This activity is a collaboration between the Fiscal Policy Office of the Ministry of Finance of the Republic of Indonesia and the Master of Science and Doctoral Program of the FEB UGM as a poll session before the implementation of AIFED in December 2019. Starting with singing the anthem Indonesia Raya and remarks from the Deputy Dean of the Field Academic and Student Affairs, Prof. Mahfud Solihin, Ph.D., this event was attended by practitioners, local governments, and academics including representatives of the Indonesian Economic Association (ISEI) in Yogyakarta. Yopi Abimanyu, Ph.D., Associate Researcher of the Fiscal Policy Office, delivered an introduction to the seminar as a flintstone for discussion.
The discussion session was moderated by FEB UGM Lecturer, Sekar Utami Setiastuti, SE., M.Sc., Ph.D. with three speakers representing academics, local government, and policymakers. Academics were represented by Prof. Tri Widodo, Ph.D., Researcher of the Center for Economic Studies and Public Policy, UGM, “Policy Recommendations in the framework of Increasing Productivity and Competitiveness”. Furthermore, Ali Moechtar, Ph.D., Head of the Welfare and Employment Analysis Subdivision, BKF “Strengthens Strategies in the Framework of Increasing Productivity and Competitiveness” representing policymakers. The speaker representing the local government was Ir. E. TH Intan Mestikaningrum, M.Sc., Head of Metal, Clothing & Miscellaneous Industry with the theme of the presentation “The Role of Local Government in Encouraging Regional Productivity”. In addition, the moderator gives the speaker 20 minutes to deliver the material.
Interestingly, the discussion was also attended by two discussants, namely Hendro Wijayanto, President Director of CV. Karya Hidup Sentosa represents market players in the production of Quick hand tractors, and Dr. Andung Prihadi Santosa, M. Kes., Head of the Department of Manpower and Transmigration, Special Region of Yogyakarta, represented local governments in terms of productivity factors. Furthermore, the moderator invited two participants to ask questions during the question and answer session and Ali Moechtar expressed a response to one of the questioners “if we look at the composition of foreign and domestic workers, the competitiveness of domestic workers is still very low. On the other hand because there is a structural leap in performance that is wrong from agriculture directly to the service sector by jumping over the manufacturing sector “.
At the end of the session which was attended by more than 100 participants, the BKF Ministry of Finance of the Republic of Indonesia gave a souvenir to the speakers and discussants. The whole programs ended with a group photo. (RP)
