Bali. Chief Investment Minister Luhut Binsar Pandjaitan claimed on Sunday that the current government has brought major achievements that make the country very different from what it was eight years ago -- the era prior to the Joko Widodo presidency.

Addressing the gathering of business leaders at the B20 Investment Forum in Bali, the minister said Indonesia’s macroeconomic indicators are among the best in the Group of 20 (G20), the organization of the world’s biggest economies.

“The economy demonstrates strong growth with low inflation and low government debt. This one is very important because some people in this country thought that we have a lot of debt. No,” Luhut said. 

In addition, the Indonesian stock market enjoys a positive trend while the international trade balance has been in a surplus over the last 29 uninterrupted months which has “never happened before in our history”, he added.

“If you look at our export data, the highest export in our history was $232 billion [recorded] last year, and this year we believe that we can achieve like $293 billion,” he said.

The main reason behind the robust export data is that Indonesia is transforming its economy by reducing reliance on raw commodities, he said.

“We hope that by 2030 our income per capita is going to be around $10,000,” Luhut said.

“If any country or businessmen look at Indonesia like eight years ago, forget it. This is the new Indonesia, I can tell you this ladies and gentlemen.”