Civil servants play key role in unifying nation: VP

Jakarta. “Civil servants play a central role in unifying the nation which consists of diverse culture and background,” said Vice President Jusuf Kalla while making his remarks in the opening ceremony of Batch 32 Leadership Training for Echelon 1 Government Officials, held today (Feb 10) at the Vice Presidential Palace, Jakarta.

A good civil servant, the Vice President added, should run the government system effectively for the sake of improved public welfare.

“A good government will create conducive atmosphere for people to work, and encourage businesses to grow as well as ensure them to abide by the regulation,” he said.

Regarding the leadership training, Mr Kalla found it vital to prepare high rank officials with some skills essential for decision making process.

“A leader must have specific objectives. They cannot only do what satisfies the people. If so, they will only be a coordinator, not a leader,” he affirmed.

He then underscored that in the near future, civil servants in high rank position will be national civil servants.

“Meaning that they could be deployed anywhere in the country, not merely in the position or the region they were initially posted,” he said.

The Vice President also highlighted the issue of professionalism.

“A head of trade office, for instance, must have ample knowledge not only on conventional market, but also e-commerce in newly emerging markets,” he said.

Concluding his remarks, Mr Kalla hoped that government training and education agencies be improved from time to time to catch up with the recent development in the world.

“The agencies should provide discussion or workshop on how to cope with the ASEAN Economic Community, what the impact of democracy to government and society is, and so on,” he said.

Also attending the ceremony were Head of the State Administration Institute (LAN) Adi Suryanto, Head of Vice President’s Secretariat Mohamad Oemar, Vice President’s Deputy on Human Resource Development Bambang Widianto, and Vice President’s special staff Syahrul Udjud.