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Minister of Health discusses the urgency of investing in public health at the ASEAN forum

Jakarta, The Indonesia Post – Indonesian Minister of Health Budi Gunadi Sadikin discussed the importance of investing in public health for ASEAN countries who want to escape the trap of middle-income countries at the ASEAN forum.

“I ask all of you in ASEAN to invest in your own health, invest in your family’s health, invest in the health of our community because that will increase the size of the economy and that will open up good investment opportunities for all of you,” said Minister of Health Budi when giving opening remarks at the ASEAN Investment Forum Day 2 in Jakarta, Sunday.

The Minister of Health said that many countries in ASEAN are developing countries and ASEAN is included in the group of middle-income countries. Every ASEAN country aspires to become a high-income and developed country with an average per capita income of 12,500 US dollars.

The opportunity to achieve the dream of becoming a developed country, he continued, is open through the demographic bonus which for Indonesia will occur in the next 7-12 years, namely in 2030-2035 and will be a determining momentum for Indonesia to realize the Vision of a Golden Indonesia 2045.

“Indonesia’s people must be healthy. If they are not healthy, Indonesia cannot go there. “If we pass that time, it is impossible for our children and grandchildren to escape from a middle income country to a high income country, that is what is called the middle income trap,” he said.

Apart from paying attention to public health to escape the trap of middle-income countries, the Minister of Health also said that education is also an important element that goes hand in hand with health.

According to him, if the ASEAN community is not smart, it is impossible for per capita income to reach 12,500 US dollars. On the other hand, if society is smart but unhealthy, it will also make society unproductive and make it difficult to achieve the per capita income of developed countries.

“If something like Indonesia has 20 percent stunting of 25 million people before 5 years, our people will not have enough intelligence to get a job with an income of 12,500 and we will never become a high-income country,” he explained.

Therefore, Budi invites investors to invest in the public health sector which will lead to opening up better investment opportunities and improving the ASEAN economy.

“Healthcare centers are a sector that I believe based on my experience is an inflection point that will transform drastically,” he said. (mhn/bbs)

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