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JAKARTA: Indonesia's corruption fight will take time to win but reducing graft could see Southeast Asia's largest economy dramatically boost its growth, World Bank President Robert Zoellick said Thursday.
Speaking during a short stop in Jakarta en route to China from Bali's climate change summit, Zoellick said he had met with key governance officials to discuss Indonesia's progress in battling its notorious corruption.
"My first impression was that Indonesia is very fortunate to have some of the people who have turned to this," Zoellick said, referring to his meetings earlier with the Corruption Eradication Commission and other watchdogs.
"No one is surprised that this is a legacy that ... has deep roots. So it's not just a question of (reforming) government bureaucracies, but it's a question of the business community and the courts and people accepting this as a way of doing business, how this is going to be changed," he said.
"This is not going to be changed over night," he warned.
Indonesia's President Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono swept to power in 2004 on an anti-corruption platform, though his administration has since been criticised for acting too slowly to catch major culprits.
A criminal trial against ex-dictator Suharto -- whose 32-year rule is seen as responsible for Indonesia's culture of corruption and impunity -- was abandoned last year, though a separate civil suit is moving through the courts.
"Obviously the president has sent his own signal about how important (fighting corruption) is for the future of Indonesia, so we want to try to help because ... there's a lot of economic potential in Indonesia," he said.
"You can see the possibilities here of moving from five to six per cent growth, to eight or nine per cent growth -- but some of this will (have to) deal with getting the legal system right, and building confidence for investors," Zoellick added.
Foreign investment is on the rise in Indonesia and is expected to reach levels this year not seen since the 1997 Asian financial crisis.
But investors consistently rate graft, red tape and an uncertain legal environment as the main challenges the world's fourth most populous nation must overcome to lure in more cash.
Indonesia is targeting growth of 6.3 per cent this year and forecasts that the economy will expand 6.4 to 6.7 percent in 2008. - AFP/ac
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