Indonesia's Economic Outlook and Asian Economic Integration
WASHINGTON, DC (June 12, 2012) – Fifteen years since the 1997 Asian Financial Crisis, Indonesia has emerged as a major economic player, both regionally and globally. Steady growth over the past decade hit its stride in recent years, making Indonesia’s economy the 14th largest in the world, and Indonesia the only Southeast Asian member-state of the G-20.
Dr. Rizal Ramli analyzed the past and current performance as well as medium outlook of the Indonesian economy, including the impact of the European crises and the global economic slowdown. He also discussed the hurdles to the incoming Asian Century, the interdependence and internal competition among Asia’s largest economies, and their relevance to US influence in the region.
Dr. Rizal Ramli is currently a member of the United Nations Development Programme Advisory panel on Human Development. In his long and varied career in economics, he was Chairman of the Board of PT Semen Gresik (2006-2008), after founding the ECONIT Advisory Group, a leading Indonesian economic think. He has been assigned numerous posts in the Indonesian government, including the Coordinating Minister of the Economy and Minister of Finance (2000-2001) during the Administration of President Abdurrahman Wahid, and the Head of the Bureau of Logistics (Bulog) in 2001. Though his period in public office was brief, he took on a number of strategic initiatives to accelerate recovery from the economic crisis. Dr. Ramli received his PhD in Economics from Boston University in 1990.
