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Sri Mulyani Indrawati, the former finance minister who is now a top World Bank executive, called on middle-income countries in the region, including Indonesia, to work hard to raise investment in their country.

Addressing finance ministers of Association of Southeast Asian Nations member states at a meeting in Jakarta, Sri Mulyani said that Asean nations must take special care to avoid a “middle-income trap.”

The World Bank managing director was referring to a condition in which a once-poor country, having become a middle-income nation, is unable to raise itself to advanced status.

Sri Mulyani said investment in Asia had yet to fully recover from the 1997 financial crisis, which saw many of the region’s currencies plummet in value.

Investment in Asean nations was on average only 10-15 percent of gross domestic product, which was slowing economic growth by 2-3 percent, Sri Mulyani said.

Although investment in Indonesia remained at about 25 percent of GDP, that figure was “still way below the average investment level in South Korea and Japan when they took off and became advanced countries — that is, about 31 percent of GDP,” she said.

The Asian Development Bank in an August report said Indonesia could face the “middle-income trap.” Other countries named were China, India, Vietnam and Thailand.

Besides increasing investment, Sri Mulyani said, Indonesia should also push to enhance its infrastructure and institutional capacity.

“Large infrastructure projects need adequate feasibility studies and research,” she said. “These are the capacities that the government should accord attention to.”

The country needs workers who can not only provide labor but also higher level skills, Sri Mulyani said. “Investment in higher education needs to be improved to match the labor market,” she said.

Earlier on Tuesday, Sri Mulyani returned to the presidential palace, where she served as Finance Minister from 2005 to June 2010. It was her first time back since leaving for the World Bank.

“Welcome home,” said President Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono, shaking her hand as she arrived.

Sri Mulyani, who was accompanied by five World Bank executives, declined to comment to journalists who queried her on a possible candidacy in the 2014 presidential election.

Addressing a brief press conference after meeting with Yudhoyono, Sri Mulyani said the two only spoke about the global economy and cooperation between Indonesia and the World Bank

“It feels good,” she said. “The palace is still good.”

Cooperation with the World Bank, she said, did not have to be limited to loans, as the institution could also provide knowledge, she said.

Sri Mulyani said it was countries like Indonesia that were capable of assisting the global economy as it grapples with financial crisis.

“These middle-income countries can stabilize the world crisis by continuing to maintain growth,” she said.