Recollections of my career

As part of our occasional series of interviews with economists who have helped shape the New Order period, in January 1996 Anne Booth and Thee Kian Wie, members of the BIES Editorial Board, spoke to Professor Emil Salim. Professor Salim graduated from the Faculty of Economies, University of Indonesia (FEUI) in 1959. After obtaining a PhD Degree in Economics from the University of California, Berkeley, in 1964, he returned to Indonesia, to a teaching post at FEUI. In 1977 he was appointed Professor of Economic Development at the Faculty. Professor Salim has held a number of important senior executive and cabinet positions in the New Order government. In 1966 he served on the Team of Economic Advisers to General Soeharto, and in 1967-68 was a member of the Team of Advisers to the Minister of Manpower. He was Chairman of the Technical Team of the Council for Economic Stability and a member of the Gotong Royong Parliament from 1967 to 1969. In 1969 he was appointed Vice Chairman of Bappenas and in 1971 also became Minister of State for the Improvement of the State Apparatus. From 1973 to 1978 he served as Minister of Communications, from 1978 to 1983 as Minister of State for Development Supervision and the Environment, and from 1983 to 1993 as Minister of State for Population and the Environment. Professor Salim maintains an active interest in sustainable development and the preservation of the environment, chairing both the Foundation for Sustainable Development and the Kehati Foundation. He continues to teach at FEUI and is a member of the Association of Indonesian Moslem Intellectuals. In this interview he talks about his early life, his career, and his views on Indonesia's development experience since independence.