AHY: Global conflict risks push Indonesia to strengthen food and energy security

Jakarta – Coordinating Minister for Infrastructure and Regional Development Agus Harimurti Yudhoyono (AHY) says global conflict risks are pushing Indonesia to strengthen energy and food security to face rising uncertainty. At the Ikatan Alumni SMA Taruna Nusantara (Ikastara) event in Jakarta on Saturday, AHY said that escalations in geopolitical conflict, particularly in the Middle East, could disrupt global energy supply routes, including in strategically important areas such as the Strait of Hormuz. The situation is seen to potentially trigger spikes in energy prices, which would have a ripple effect on food prices and other basic commodities. “If conflict and war persist in the Middle East, the Strait of Hormuz will be difficult to normalise in the near term; global energy and food prices could rise sharply,” AHY said. He noted that energy plays a crucial role in supporting economic activity. Higher energy prices will raise production and distribution costs, ultimately putting pressure on prices of people’s needs. AHY emphasised the importance of national self-sufficiency, especially in the energy and food sectors, so Indonesia is not overly vulnerable to external shocks. Resilience in these two sectors, he continued, forms an essential foundation for maintaining national economic stability. “Food security must be strengthened. Climate risks such as El Niño must also be anticipated carefully to avoid triggering a prolonged dry season that could disrupt agricultural production and lead to crop failures,” he said. Beyond geopolitical factors, AHY also highlighted other global challenges such as climate crises, natural disasters, and technological disruptions that affect the dynamics of the world economy. He judged that these conditions require Indonesia to be increasingly adaptive in formulating development policies. Moreover, the Coordinating Minister for AHY said infrastructure development plays a strategic role in supporting energy and food resilience, including through improving connectivity and logistics distribution efficiency. With integrated infrastructure, logistics costs, he said, can be reduced, making energy and food distributions more affordable. AHY also stated that strengthening energy and food resilience must go hand in hand with more equitable development, so its benefits can be felt across all communities in various regions of Indonesia. Therefore, he stressed that development must reach all regions without exception and every area should receive equal attention, so that there is no longer a Jawa-centric approach.