Page 180 - BUKU STRENGTHENING THE INDONESIAN PARLIAMENTARY DIPLOMACY FADLI ZON

Redressing Inequalities: Delivering on

Dignity and Well Being for All

Let me begin by expressing my deep appreciation to the hard work and dedication carried out
by the Government and Parliament of Bangladesh as well as the people of Bangladesh for the
successful organization of the 136 IPU Assembly and related meetings in the city of Dhaka.
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We are a country no different than yours. Today, inequality remains and continues to
significantly increase. Our economy has been in sustained growth for the past 15 years but it
has only benefited the rich. The economic situation of the poorest has not changed much.

A recent inequality report published by Oxfam and the International NGO Forum on Indonesian
Development (INFID) disclose the fact that the wealth of four richest Indonesians is equal to the
wealth of the country’s poorest 100 million citizens. Wealth inequality has widened within the
last decade. In 2002, the 10% wealthiest Indonesians consume as equal as the 42% of the poorest
and in 2014 they consume as equal as the 54% of the poorest.
1

In land acquisition, at around 0.2% of the elites own 56% of land. Big corporations have big
assets of lands while small farmers acquire less than half hectare of land. In an agricultural
country like Indonesia, around 13.57 million farmers have no cultivation land.
2

The state of national inequality is no different than the global situation. The condition where
the richest 1% has more wealth than the rest of the planet pictured how global inequalities
occurred.

1 http://documents.worldbank.org/curated/en/870151468197336991/pdf/101668-BAHASA-WP-PUBLIC-
Box394818B-Executive-Summary-Indonesias-Rising-Divide.pdf
2 Majalah Tempo, Bertani di Lahan Sempit, Laporan Khusus Ketimpangan Ekonomi: Kaya Raya Miskin
Papa, Edisi 20-26 Maret 2017, Jakarta: PT Tempo Inti Media Tbk, Hal 98-99

Selected Speeches of the Vice Speaker of the House of Representatives of the Republic of Indonesia I 167