Targeted to Reach 10th Position of Human Development Index

Muhammad Firda, head of the Economic Bureau of the South Sulawesi regional government, has targeted the South Sulawesi Human Development Index (HDI) to obtain 10th place among human development index as in the country by 2013. This was announced during a press confrence at the Bakti Building at the midle of January 2012. An analyses of South Sulawesi's public finances indicates that South Sulawesi's HDI is currently in 19th position in the country, which is due to a slow rise in its figures from 68.8 in 2006 to 72.2 in 2010.

Gregorius DV Pattinasarany, senior economist at the World Bank for Regional Decentralization and Development, says that South Sulawesi HDI achievement is not in balance with its economic growth, which reached 8 percent above the national economic growth rate, due to uneven development in the region, which resulted in the low figures on its human development index.

Generally when the economic growth of a province is much affected by the growth of its capital city, which is then followed by the economic growth of other cities in the province, this will cause the regions outside the cities to lag in growth.