Palu, C Sulawesi,  (Antaranews Sulteng) - Minister of National Development Planning Bambang Brodjonegoro has asked the Central Sulawesi provincial government including district heads and mayors to speed up infrastructure development in the province to reduce logistics costs.

"By developing infrastructures, we can lower (the high) logistics costs, which might have caused the high poverty rate," he said after opening the Central Sulawesi provincial development planning congress 2018 here on Thursday.

Bambang Brodjonegoro, who is also Head of the National Development Planning Agency (Bappenas) noted that if infrastructure constraints are overcome, the high prices in the province can be lowered.

He came to the conclusion after he looked at the province`s relatively low unemployment rate, while on the other hand its poverty rate is higher than the national average.

"Although the unemployment rate is low or jobs are still available, the jobs offer relatively low wages, which influence the local people`s standard of living," he said.

He noted that the province`s open unemployment rate rose in 2017 but it is still below the national average.

Only open unemployment rate in the provincial capital of Palu which stands at 8.32 percent is above the national average, he said.

Despite a decline in the province`s poverty rate in the past six years, it still stays above the national poverty rate.

The highest poverty rate in Central Sulawesi is found in the districts of Tojo Una-Una, Donggala and Parigi Moutong.

Meanwhile, Central Sulawesi Governor Longki Djanggola said the province`s poverty rate slightly increased to 14.22 percent in 2017 from 14.09 percent in 2016.

"This has become the center of our attention from all parties to work hard to cut the poverty rate," he said.