AHY Stresses Importance of Empirical Field Data in Policy Formulation
Coordinating Minister for Infrastructure and Regional Development Agus Harimurti Yudhoyono (AHY) has affirmed that field data will serve as a crucial foundation in formulating policies to develop transmigration areas into new centres of economic growth. AHY made the remarks during a briefing for participants of the Patriot Expedition Team 2026, who will be dispatched by the Ministry of Transmigration, at the Balai Kartini in Jakarta on Wednesday (29/7/2026).
The programme involves 1,476 participants comprising university students, researchers, and professors from ten partner state universities, in collaboration with hundreds of other universities across Indonesia and abroad. They will be deployed to 53 transmigration areas, particularly in eastern Indonesia, to continue developing the regions’ potential, building on the groundwork laid by the 2025 Patriot Expedition Team.
He regarded a research-based approach to regional development grounded in real conditions in the field, carried out through academic discipline, as a strategic step — particularly as most participants are young.
“We want to build transmigration areas that become new magnets for investment, economic growth, and improved community welfare. That is where the contribution of these students becomes vital, because the recommendations they produce will be born from real conditions on the ground,” he said in a written statement on Thursday (30/7/2026).
Continuing the research and mapping work begun last year, AHY explained that participants will identify various potentials and challenges in transmigration areas in order to drive industrialisation and downstream development across sectors ranging from agriculture, plantations, and tourism to the creative economy and natural resources.
To that end, he expressed hope that their findings and recommendations can serve as strategic input for the government in developing each transmigration area according to its own characteristics and strengths. He also reaffirmed the paradigm shift in transmigration development.
“Whereas the old paradigm was to move people off Java, the paradigm has now changed to how we build these areas so they become magnets for population movement, investment, and sustainable development and economic growth,” he explained.
Furthermore, AHY expressed hope that the participants’ observations can be academically accountable and serve as empirical references to complement government data in formulating policies for developing transmigration areas.
“Hopefully, when academic input meets strategic policy at the central level, policies that are genuinely effective and implementable will emerge. Empirical data from the field will be a crucial foundation in formulating well-targeted policies,” he said.
In a separate statement, Transmigration Minister M. Iftitah Sulaiman Suryanagara assured that the government has prepared various measures to guarantee the safety and security of all participants during their assignments in the field, particularly on the island of Papua and elsewhere in eastern Indonesia.
“We have coordinated with the National Police Chief, the TNI, regional governments, and community leaders at every assignment location. Alhamdulillah, all regions have welcomed the presence of the Patriot Expedition Team, as they genuinely need input and assistance to develop their transmigration areas,” said Minister Iftitah.
Beyond securing the support of various stakeholders, participants’ progress during their assignments will be continuously monitored.
“Nevertheless, we will not be complacent. While the participants carry out their duties, we have prepared 24-hour coordination through monitoring posts so that every development can be tracked and all participants can carry out their assignments safely,” the minister affirmed.
The 2025 Patriot Expedition Team produced 400 research and recommendation documents. These results will be followed up by the 2026 Patriot Expedition Team through further research and assistance tailored to the needs and potential of each transmigration area. The aim is to accelerate the transformation of transmigration areas into inclusive, competitive, and sustainable new centres of economic growth.
The briefing by Coordinating Minister AHY was also attended by Transmigration Minister M. Iftitah Sulaiman Suryanagara, Tourism Minister Widiyanti Putri Wardhana, Deputy Transmigration Minister Viva Yoga Mauladi, Secretary-General Edy Gunawan, and officials of the Ministry of Transmigration. Also present from the Coordinating Ministry of Infrastructure and Regional Development were Deputy for Regional Development Equity, Agrarian Affairs, and Spatial Planning Nazib Faizal; Special Staff for Management and Inter-Agency Cooperation Agust Jovan Latuconsina; Special Staff for Law and Regulation Sigit Raditya; and Special Staff for Non-Governmental Institutional and Foreign Cooperation Merry Riana.