Indonesian president calls for improving quality of economic growth

Indonesian President Joko Widodo on Friday urged authorities in the country to improve the quality of economic growth so that it can be enjoyed by more people.

"At present we always talk about economic growth, (but) always forgets about one thing, the equality," Widodo told all governors from Java Island, and majors and chiefs of district from the island and Maluku Island at the presidential palace here.

Indonesia, a vast archipelago country, is home to over 238 million people.

"Should the economic growth (rate) be high, if it is only enjoyed by a small group of people or the high-income group only, it is useless," the president said.

The president also reminded provincial authorities over the threat of external factors which often hampered Indonesia in expanding the economy.

Indonesia's gross domestic product (GDP) grew at 5.02 percent in 2014, the slowest pace in five years, figures from the national statistics bureau has shown. But the country's economy showed a signal of recovery in the final quarter by registering a 5.01 percent growth, comparing with 4.92 percent in the previous quarter, the bureau said.

The president plans to build roads, ports, railways and education and health facilities, as part of his efforts to lift economic growth to more than 7 percent within 2 years.

He had promised during his campaign to improve the investment climate by cutting red tapes, simplifying process of investment licensing and undertaking others reforms.

For this year, he has said that he would focus on achieving a GDP growth of 5.7 percent. Endi