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President Joko Widodo. Antara/the ministry of state secretariat)

President Joko Widodo (Jokowi) urged his cabinet members to not forget the big strategic agendas amid the ongoing endeavors to deal with the COVID-19 pandemic.

"I want to emphasize again that although we face a difficult situation, we must not forget the big agendas, the great strategic agendas of our nation," President Jokowi remarked during a limited meeting on the Draft of the State Budget of 2021 held through videoconferencing from the Bogor Presidential Palace, West Java, Monday.

President Jokowi lay emphasis on the need to always bear in mind the strategic agenda, particularly concerning Indonesia's steps to escape the middle income trap.

"We all know that Indonesia has entered the middle-income country bracket. However, we are sentient of the fact that the challenge to escape the middle income trap still looms large and long," President Jokowi remarked.

At a recent virtual Indonesian Rector Forum Conference (FRI) from the Bogor Presidential Palace, President Jokowi pointed out that Indonesia had a huge opportunity to become a high-income nation based on several conditions, with one being the existence of superior, productive, innovative, and competitive human resources.

The Coordinating Ministry for Economy had earlier noted that at least 88 of the 223 strategic projects could have been completed during the period from 2016 to 2019, in which the projects were valued at Rp421.1 trillion, or 10.06 percent of the funds totaling Rp4,183 trillion.

The government is eyeing to complete 144 of the 223 projects worth Rp815.2 trillion, he stated, adding that the government's strategic agenda would not merely be related to the economic sector but also to the education and health ones.

In the health sector, the government has been endeavoring to lower the number of cases of children with stunted growth and fight TB, malaria, dengue fever, and HIV/AIDS, he remarked.

Coronavirus infections initially emerged in the Chinese city of Wuhan at the end of 2019.

Since then, COVID-19 has spread to over 202 countries and territories, including Indonesia, with a massive spurt in death toll.

The Indonesian government officially confirmed the country's first cases on March 2 this year.

To contain the spread of the coronavirus disease, the Indonesian authorities have enforced large-scale social restrictions and distancing measures in several cities, including Jakarta, Bogor, Bekasi, Surabaya, and Makassar.

The Indonesian government has also begun enforcing a new normal amid the COVID-19 pandemic in four provinces and 25 cities and districts. (ANTARA)