The Faculty of Economics and Business, Universitas Gadjah Mada (FEB UGM), in collaboration with the Organization for Economic Co-Operation and Development (OECD) and the Development Studies Forum, hosted a discussion event titled “SinarKu: OECD Economic Survey of Indonesia” on Tuesday (4/3/2025) at the 8th Floor of the FEB UGM Learning Center. The event featured Andrea Goldstein and Charles Dennery from the OECD as keynote speakers, who presented the findings of the OECD survey on Indonesia’s economic growth. Dian Ari Ani from Bank BPD DIY and Sekar Utami Setiastuti from FEB UGM joined the discussion.
The Organisation for Economic Co-Operation and Development (OECD) is an international organization established to help countries identify policy solutions, set global standards, and share experiences and best practices to improve people’s quality of life. Andrea Goldstein emphasized that the OECD’s top priorities in the Indo-Pacific region include connectivity, digitalization, and climate change. As the most populous country in Southeast Asia, Indonesia is one of the OECD’s key partners in the Indo-Pacific. Furthermore, Indonesia is the first Southeast Asian country to apply for OECD membership, with the accession discussions showing significant progress since their initiation in 2024.
OECD Economic Survey of Indonesia Report
Charles Dennery presented the OECD’s Economic Survey of Indonesia. Indonesia’s gross domestic product (GDP) per capita has grown rapidly since 2000, reaching USD 16,000 in 2023, approaching the average of other Southeast Asian countries. Indonesia’s monetary policy has also successfully reduced inflation, which spiked in 2022. Experts project that this positive economic growth will continue through 2025, driven by an increase in real GDP, a decline in inflation, and an improvement in Indonesia’s fiscal balance ratio.
However, Indonesia is still lagging in the education sector. Compared to OECD countries, Indonesia’s low Program for International Student Assessment (PISA) scores reflect this trend. PISA is an OECD initiative to assess and compare students’ skills and knowledge worldwide in reading, mathematics, and science. To improve the quality of education in Indonesia, the government needs to reduce household expenditure on education, which can help increase school attendance and improve students’ academic performance.
In addition, female labor force participation remains low in Indonesia. Better maternity leave policies are needed to increase female labor force participation and prevent discrimination against women in the workplace. Deregulation is crucial to improve market competitiveness and attract more foreign direct investment (FDI). On the other hand, firms’ adoption of digital technology in Indonesia remains limited. Digitalization has the potential to improve efficiency and competitiveness in the global market. The government must improve telecommunications infrastructure and ensure fast and affordable Internet access to support this.
The government must accelerate the transition to renewable energy and reduce reliance on fossil fuels to meet carbon emission reduction targets. One approach is implementing a carbon tax to encourage the decarbonization of the power sector, which currently relies on coal for sixty percent of its energy production. In addition to a carbon tax, the government can implement road pricing policies to charge road users to reduce traffic congestion and carbon emissions from vehicle combustion.
Andrea Goldstein concluded the discussion by reaffirming the OECD’s commitment to using its standards and best practices to help Indonesia achieve its eight percent economic growth target and realize the Golden Indonesia 2045 vision, which is the primary goal of the current government.
The complete OECD Economic Survey of Indonesia report is available at oe.cd/INDONESIA
Reportage: Najwah Ariella Puteri
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