Firstly, I
wanna tell my experience in Korea, all the days of training were going well and being in Korea in winter season was the other impressive experience. During training, I stayed at International Cooperation Center (ICC) where all Korea International Cooperation Agency (KOICA)’s training participants are accomodated. The Center is a four-story building and has 300 guest rooms with an internet café, classrooms, auditorium, reference room, business center, dining hall, etc. I think the place is comfortable although a bit far from downtown of Seoul, the capital city. Because of winter, the weather was very cold, the average temperature was 6 celcious degree and the morning is the most challenging times. I had to be ready with my jumper, jacket, or winter clothes everyday. The training was managed well by the committee, so that we got a lot of experiences not only focused on theories of economic development in the class but also field trip, social and culture program and culinery experience was my favourite. Hmmm..., I like kimchi, bee bim bap and many other foods with rich in vegetables.
Korea Develo
pment Isntitute (KDI) School of Public Policy and Management was appointed to facilitate the training. The team was great, exelence and friendly. The professors were professional and qualified. Topics to be covered in Korea include From Aid to Development, KOrea's Export - Oriented Industrialization, Green Growth, Trade Liberalization and its Economic Impacts, Government Reform for Economic Development, Investment in Human Resources and Development in Korea, Anti - Corruption Reform and Government, and Conflict Management System. During field trip program, I had the opportunity to visit Samsung D’light, Hyundai Heavy Industries, Korea Trade-Investment Promotion Agency (KOTRA), Korea International Trade Association (KITA), Ministry of Strategy and Finance and Saemangeum Gunsan Free Economic Zone. And during social and culture program, we visited COEX, N-Seoul Tower, Nanta Show, Jenjou Traditional Village, Gyeongbok Palace, Korean Traditional Houses, N-Seoul Tower, and Insa-dong (a charming narrow street with Korean antique stores and art galleries). For all my collegues during training, Anyong Haseyo....:)
The Republ
ic of Korea was once one of the poorest countries in the world and tried very hard to rebuild itself from the ashes of a devastating war. Innovation, Coordination and Goverment Externalities are the conceptual framework for development in Korea. Korea used international trade as an essential component of its development policy. The government and the private sector made joint efforts to address innovation and coordination externalities. They developed "a big-push partnership" in which the government shared the investment risks of the private sector and provided support largely based on performance in competitive global markets. In short, Korea adopted on outward-oriented, bottom-up, and integrated engineering approach in its industrial policy. Korea retained ownership of its industrialization, acquired and assimilated foreign technology and know-how, and progressively developed its own capabilities. So today, we are very familiar with Samsung, LG or Daewoo electronics, Hyundai, Daewoo, or KIA automobile and POSCO as a steel industry.
For Singap
ore session, another experience was obtained. As a tropical country has a very different weather compared with in Korea. Though it’s being rainy season, but many times especially at noon, the weather gets hot. But, it’s more suitable for us who come from neighbour country with the same climate. Civil Service College (CSC) Singapore was appointed to facilitate the training. The college serves as a key catalyst in initializing change and sustaining transformation whitin the Public Service through training and development. Holland Village which is close to the campus is my favourite spot for lunch. In Singapore, I had learnt many things regarding public policy and administrative reforms in Singapore. Training also combines classroom and learning journey. Topics to be covered in Singapore include Singapore's Economic Development and Transformation Journey, Singapore's Economic and Social Planning, Innovation in the Public Sector and Better Governance. Some learning journeys include Learning Journey to Housing Development Board, Zero Energy Building, Jurong Island, NParks/CUGE, Urban Redevelopment Authority, School of the Arts (SOTA), and Land Transport Authority. During Singapore session, I enjoyed traveling very much. Marina Bay area was my favourite place, especially at night. My hotel, Grand Park City Hall, is very closed to that. In Singapore, I visited Marrina Barrage, Singapore Flyer, Orchad Street, Orchad Garden, Sentosa Island, Jurong Island, China Town, Bugis Juction, Mustafa Shoping Centre, and others. For all my collegues during training, Every Where We Go, Enjoy lah.....
Singapore is a ve
ry unique country. The land is very small, only 646 sq km in area, 42 km east to west and 23 km north to south. In the beginning of its development, essentially, Singapore had nothing to start with, lack of natural resources, high unemployment rates, insufficient land to capture and poor qualty housing, and riots on the streets. Then, Singapore made skills, innovation, and productivity as the basis for sustaining Singapore's economic growth. Good leadership as it had been applied by Lee Kuan Yew, good governance, public service reforms and law enforcement are the keys to successful development in Singapore. Today, Singapore is enjoying prosperity with a high GDP growth (14,5% in 2010). The architecture of the city is very modern and well managed. In particular, Changi Airport and the Port of Singapore are ranked among the top airports and container ports in the world respectively. Public transportation system, such as MRT, has steadily improved over time. Singapore has a world-class environment and infrastructure. Singapore Government also maintain the greenery of environment so called “City in the Garden”. Every where you go, you’ll find city parks and roadside trees. Singapore attracts a lot of Foreign Direct Investment (FDI) to establish it’s economy. Singapore has the fundamentals of industrialisation. By co-operation and coordination of various statutory boards, Singapore sets up competitive adventages in Jurong Industrial Park. Many big companies such as Exxon Mobil, Chevron Philips, Shell, DuPont, Total, and Eastmant Chemical have invested in Jurong. The market in Singapore is opened, every business field is opened to investor with foreign capital ownership up to 100%. The tax is very low (17%) and the procedure in starting business is very easy. Now, I understand why Singapore always achieves the top rank in Ease of Doing Business Survey by World Bank.
At the end of each sessi
on, proudly, I always shared my opinion that one day, I believe Indonesia could be a developed country considering Indonesia as a big country with abundance natural resources. Today, Indonesia seems like a "Sleeping Giant". What should be done is the optimalization of all available resources to support sustainable development and balance growth. Indonesia has to focus on investment in human resources development (HRD) and research and development (R&D). Indonesia also needs to be always consistent with development policies/master plan that have been formulated and strengthens law enforcement. Developing a good investment climate both for FDI and DDI is the other important thing. Of course, we could't compare Indonesia with Singapore and Korea simply. Both Singapore and Korea are smaller state that in fact less complex of government and easier to implement policies. But at least, we have to learn how to manage a big country by learning from a smaller one. Invest in remarkable Indonesia....
