Jokowi on transforming Indonesia: Fulfilling the people's mandate

In a wide-ranging interview last month, Indonesia’s President Joko Widodo spoke about his priorities and the motivations behind signature policies such as infrastructure building and labour law reforms. He also talked about how Jakarta manages Sino-US rivalry. Here’s the transcript of the interview.

President Joko Widodo said Indonesia's relations with the US and China aim to contribute to world peace and stability. PHOTO: AFP
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A: I'm an ordinary person. The interests of the people will always be my number one priority. As President, my focus has been on two major issues.

First, as I think you know already, is infrastructure deployment. This was the main concern of my first term. Second, human resources development. This is the focus of my second term. I've tried to ensure both infrastructure and soft infrastructure can grow together in Indonesia. I also tried to shift from Java-centric development to make it more Indonesia-centric.

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