The International Monetary Fund (IMF)estimated that Indonesia's economic growth would reach 4.8 percent in 2010, or below the government target initially set at 5 percent, the Jakarta Globe
reported here Tuesday.
"We expect the Indonesian economy to grow by 4 percent in 2009 and 4.8 percent in 2010. We know it is below the consensus, but we still see the
potential upside." Milan Zavadjil, the IMF's chief representative in Jakarta said on Monday.
According to Milan the relatively conservative expectation was not because the country's economy was weaker than thought, but it was because of the global economy condition.
Indonesia's strong domestic fundamentals should allow its economy to remain strong despite the prospects for a more sluggish global recovery than had recently been predicted, Milan added.
"The recovery in Indonesia is self-sustaining due to strong domestic demand," Milan said, adding that the 4.8 percent growth would be achieved
mainly through that domestic demand.
President Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono has set a 7 percent economic growth target by 2014. He said earlier that the country needed 2, 100 trillion
rupiah (about 220 billion U.S. dollars) of investment per year for the next five years to be able to reach the target.
The Economic Cooperation Committees of Union of Myanmar Chambers of Commerce and Industry (UMFCCI) and the Japan Chambers of Commerce and Industry (JCCI) have met here to seek ways of boosting trade and investment between the two countries, the official newspaper New Light of Myanmar reported Tuesday.
The 7th joint meeting of the economic cooperation committees of the UMFCCI and JCCI discussed economies of Myanmar and Japan, and further cooperation between the two business organizations.
The UMFCCI was headed by its chairman U Win Myint, while the JCCI by its president Sumitaka Fujita who is leading an economic delegation on a
current visit to Myanmar.
Myanmar and Japan have been cooperating in a number of sectors and Japan traditionally stands as Myanmar's biggest donor country.
Japan's investment in Myanmar, according to figures, so far amounted to 216.76 million U.S. dollars in 23 projects since 1988.
The bilateral trade between Myanmar and Japan stood 341.8 million dollars in the 2008-09 fiscal year, of which Myanmar's export to Japan amounted to 179.6 million dollars with Japan ranking the 6th in Myanmar's exporting countries line-up. Myanmar's import from Japan took 162.2 million
dollars.