A press release published on the website of The President of The Republic of Indonesia on Saturday (21/6/25,) has announced that President Prabowo Subianto delivered a speech at the plenary session of the St. Petersburg International Economic Forum (SPIEF) 2025 held at the ExpoForum Convention and Exhibition Center, St. Petersburg, on Friday (20/6/25,) and emphasized the direction of Indonesia’s economic policy that is pro-people.
In the forum, President Prabowo outlined four main priorities of his government, namely food self-sufficiency, energy self-sufficiency, improving the quality of education, and accelerating national industrialization. However, President Prabowo emphasized that natural resource wealth must be managed wisely. The Head of State also criticized the implementation of the neoliberal economic philosophy that has been widely followed by Southeast Asian elites, including Indonesia.
“For the past 30 years, we have witnessed the dominance of neoliberal economic philosophy and classical free market capitalism. The Indonesian elite has followed this philosophy, and as a result we have not succeeded in creating equal opportunities for all people,” said President Prabowo.
Although Indonesia’s economic growth in the last seven years has reached an average of 5 percent per year, President Prabowo assessed that the growth has not been enjoyed evenly. Therefore, President Prabowo emphasized that each country must have its own economic philosophy that is in line with the culture and character of its nation.
“The path we have chosen is the middle path. We will use the creativity of capitalism, innovation, and initiative,” President Prabowo explained.
President Prabowo emphasized the need for government intervention in overcoming poverty and protecting vulnerable groups in society. He warned of the dangers lurking in developing countries like Indonesia, namely the occurrence of state capture—collusion between large capital forces with government officials and political elites that actually hinders the distribution of welfare.
According to President Prabowo, such collusion does not result in poverty alleviation or the expansion of the middle class. Therefore, Indonesia has chosen a simple but powerful economic philosophy: the greatest good for the greatest number of people.
“Our government must work to bring the greatest good to as many people as possible. And in this case, we must have a clean government, free from corruption. I believe this is the key to rapid development,” the President said.
Source: BPMI Presidential Secretariat, The President of The Republic of Indonesia website
Photo: BPMI Setpres/Laily Rachev
