Democracy Leads To People's Welfare: President

Jakarta, Aug 15 (Antara) - Democracy and justice will be empty without ensuring people`s welfare, President Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono stated in his annual state-of-the nation address here on Friday. The president delivered the address at a joint session of the House of Representatives (DPR) and the Regional Representative Council (DPD) in conjunction with the 69th anniversary of Indonesian independence. President Yudhoyono noted that in the past decade, the government has been pursuing pro-people development policies for simultaneously boosting growth, alleviating poverty, creating employment opportunities, and preserving the environment. "In this regard, Alhamdulillah, we can continue to accelerate the momentum of economic recovery, an effort that has been pioneered by my predecessors," he emphasized. Yudhoyono pointed out that in the last decade, Indonesia had recorded some positive progress in the country`s development such as macroeconomic stability, high economic growth, a more secure state debt condition, and a string of economic accomplishments, among several others. He claimed that the average national economic growth reached 5.9 percent during the period of 2009-2013. "This is much higher than the economic growth of the US, Europe, and Japan during the same period," he remarked. Yudhoyono stated that in the first semester of 2014, Indonesia`s economic growth slowed to around 5.2 percent. Nevertheless, among the G-20 countries, Indonesia is ranked the highest in growth after China. "Our ability to maintain the rate of economic growth is of paramount importance, given that currently, many countries of other emerging economies suffer from economic slowdown, while some others suffer a sharp decline," he pointed out.