AI can create jobs if leaders prepare workers, Jokowi says
He says national competitiveness increasingly depends on how effectively people use data and information
[SNGAPORE] Former Indonesian president Joko Widodo said the promise of a coming “intelligent economy” will hinge on training populations in artificial intelligence and rethinking the systems of global institutions such as the World Bank and the World Trade Organization (WTO).
“I believe that there will be more jobs and more opportunities to come – if we make sure our people are ready for them,” he said on Friday (Nov 21) in a speech closing Bloomberg’s New Economy Forum in Singapore.
“We must ensure that they know and they study AI, coding, algorithms and also machine learning,” he said, calling technological literacy “something fundamental” as national competitiveness increasingly depends on how well people can use data and information.
New opportunities, he added, will also require international institutions such as the International Monetary Fund (IMF) and the World Bank to redefine their financial instruments and systems, and for the WTO to update its rules on trade and tariffs. He did not elaborate on specific changes.
During his decade in power, Widodo – known as Jokowi – helped transform Indonesia into one of the world’s most promising emerging markets and shed its reputation as one of the so-called “Fragile Five.”
His push to move South-east Asia’s largest economy higher up the global supply chain – focusing on exports of refined rather than raw commodities – helped attract foreign investment, boost exports and deliver economic growth averaging around 5 per cent. Prudent government spending and stable inflation also kept Indonesia’s borrowing costs in check.
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The expansion helped lift incomes in the world’s fourth-most-populous nation and nearly eliminated extreme poverty, though it fell short of Jokowi’s early target of 7 per cent growth. The pandemic later exposed structural weaknesses in Indonesia’s labour market.
Slow wage gains and limited job creation remain key challenges for his successor, President Prabowo Subianto, with a global trade war also threatening sectors like garments and palm oil that employ millions. Frustration over living costs and inequality triggered violent protests across the country in August.
In April, months after leaving office, Jokowi joined the Bloomberg New Economy advisory board. He told local media in September that he would focus on AI and data, and share Indonesia’s experience with economic initiatives. BLOOMBERG
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