RI sets eight national development priorities : Yudhoyono

Jakarta (ANTARA news) - The government has decided eight national development priorities in 2008 in an effort to speed up economic growth, reduce the country`s poverty and unemployment rates, President Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono said in his State of the Nation Address and Government`s Financial Notes on the Draft 2008 State Budget before the House`s plenary session here on Thursday.

The eight priorities are to increase investment, encourge exports and enhance work opportunity, revitalize sectors of agriculture, fishery, forestry, village development and accelerate infrastructure development.

The other priorities are to increase access to and quality of education and health, increase the effectiveness of the fight against poverty, fight corruption and accelerate reforms of bureaucracy.

Other priorities included efforts to improve security at home, handle natural disasters, reduce disaster`s risk and increase efforts at handling bird flu infection.

He added the government has achieved extensive progress in the past ten years, mainly in developing the economic backbones following the economic crisis.

"At the end of June, our foreign exchange capital reserves have reached US$50.9 billion, an increase of US$8.3 billion compared with that in 2006.We have maintained exchange rate stability, while the banking sector has healthier financial balance," he said.

He added the state budget had also been getting better with the decrease of the debt service ratio from 47% in 2005 to 35.4% in 2007.

"The problems have yet to be handled all and the challenges will keep on occurring, while poverty and un-employment have yet to be handled," he said.

Besides health and educational facilities which needed to be developed, road infrastructures, air ports and sea ports as well as damaged electricity and irrigation netwroks received lack of attention after the crisis, he said.

"This has created high cost that should be borne by both the people and the national economy," he added.

And to settle all these problems and face the hard challenges, he said, the government would always try to implement development agenda as stipulated in the mid-term development plan.