Ahead of the implementation of the 2015 ASEAN Economic Community (AEC), Indonesia is starting to prepare supporting capacity that can provide optimal benefits in this cross-border trade agreement. One way is to increase the role of villages in national development. It is known that the majority of Indonesia's productive age population is in villages, so villages are one of the important pillars of strengthening the economy to take part in the AEC. But what is the village development format that can make this dream come true? The answer to that question was discussed together in an expert discussion entitled "Innovative Village Formats in Welcoming the ASEAN Economic Community". The event organized by the FIA UB Politics and Governance Laboratory presented Prof. Ahmad Erani Yustika, Ph.D and Dr. Sutoro Eko Yunanto, M.Si as the main resource person.
In his presentation, Prof. Ahmad Erani Yustika explained the factors that can support the realization of an innovative village as well as the challenges. The man who currently serves as Director General of Village Community Development and Empowerment, Ministry of Villages, Development of Disadvantaged Regions and Transmigration of the Republic of Indonesia stated that there are five phases of macro development in village development, namely diversifying the production of goods and services so that transactions between residents occur, creating and strengthening markets. , initiation of processing businesses, strengthening the role of formal and informal village organizations, as well as infrastructure development. "The government has allocated funds of IDR 1 billion per year per village which will be realized in full in 2017 as promised during the previous campaign," said this Professor of Economics.
Meanwhile, Malang Regency Regional Secretary Dr. Abdul Malik, M.Si in his speech expressed his pleasure at holding this expert discussion. According to him, he fully agrees that Indonesia's national development must start from the villages. He is grateful that the FIA UB Politics and Governance Laboratory played a role in this development effort by creating the Innovative Village concept. "The role of villages is important so that the extent of development success in villages will be a reflection of the success of Indonesia's national development," he said. (ALA/FIA)
