Public Lecture by the Minister of Administrative and Bureaucratic Reforms in ITB

By Muhammad Fikri

Editor Muhammad Fikri

BANDUNG, itb.ac.id - As part of the public lecture series in ITB, ITB Students Affairs Office andof Education ITB invited  Minister of Administrative and Bureaucratic Reforms, Azwar Abubakar, on Saturday (17/03/12) in ITB's West Hall under the theme of "Indonesia's Bureaucatic Reforms." Prof Ahmaloka, resident of ITB, opened the lecture by expressing his pleasure to have influential figures-among them the minister-In the public lecture series. More than 250 people attended the event, which is also open for public. "As an architecture alum from ITB, the minister is now designing the entire bureaucracy in Indonesia," Ahmaloka stated.
The Immense Problem of Development Azwar expounded on the immense problem of development in Indonesia. Azwar considers that Indonesia’s infrastrucure is far from ideal. “Infrastructure spending is only 4% of the total budget,” he said. Azwar formulated the Grand Design for Bureaucratic Reforms to overcome the problem by developing a clean and competent bureaucracy that puts service first. “What we mean by clean is clean from corruption and politics. It is also important to develop a competent and serving bureaucracy,” Azwar added. State employees, for example, have been mapped and analyzed according to their functions so that the number and distribution of employees can be managed properly. Employees’ professionalism in terms of competence, ethics, and discipline has been improved. Now, the selection process for prospective state employees is conducted with state universities. The selection also implements technologies like computer assisted test. Innovative Entrepreneur In the last part of his session Azwar said that one of the nation’s challenge is unemployment. “For those who think out of the box, every challenge is an opportunity.” He said. He then asked everyone who attended the lecture to build the business world by becoming a innovative entrepreneur. “Become one by continuously see challenges creatively,” he added. As a student, you have a great intellectual capacity, excellent skills, and a good set of attitude. ITB is a great school, and here we should support each other,” Azwar ended.