Yudhoyono receives Global Statesman Award from WEF

MANILA, Philippines - With a sense of pride for what his country has become today, President Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono said Indonesia has proven that democracy should not be at the expense of economic prosperity.

Yudhoyono received on Friday the Global Statesman Award from the World Economic Forum (WEF), saying he is hopeful history will be kind to him when his presidency is judged after he leaves office in October.

He said Indonesia, an emerging economy based on its achievements as a trillion-dollar economy and a member of the G-20, has a good story to tell that can inspire others in a turbulent world marked by political turbulence, economic uncertainty and strategic tensions.

“We have achieved that critical point of no return in our democratic development. We have proved – to ourselves and to the world – that we do not have to choose between democracy and development, and that we can indeed have both political freedom and high economic growth at the same time,” Yudhoyono said.

“We have achieved the often elusive connection between democracy and stability. We have broken the myth – the fear – that democracy will unravel national unity and instead demonstrated that democracy has made us more united. We have become an example that democracy, Islam, modernity can go hand-in-hand,” he added.

Indonesia achieved significant growth in five years since reforms began in 1998 with the domestic house in order, allowing the country to play a more active regional and global role.

“Leadership is entirely important to progress,” Yudhoyono said, stressing the world community will need more leadership and the “scale of global challenges that confront us will defy conventional response.”

“And in a world saturated with nationalism, I believe the leaders of today must also learn to evolve a new globalism. In this new globalism, we will find that there are a lot more points of intersection between local, national and global interests – much more than we were used to before,” Yudhoyono added.

He said local leaders should realize that they can significantly enhance their prosperity by drawing on global resources, “but they also have responsibility to take part in efforts to protect the global commons.”

Yudhoyono warned about the risk of de-humanization, noting the importance of reinforcing the human dimension, pursue developments that project the dignity of man and promote politics that promote human freedom.