Bima Arya Introduces Statecraft Concept, Regional Heads Urged to Be Competent, Skilled, and Intelligent
Deputy Minister of Home Affairs, Bima Arya Sugiarto, emphasised the importance of the statecraft concept or governance management in facing the current complexities of regional challenges. He conveyed this at the National Development Orchestration Forum at the Platinum Hotel in Balikpapan on Tuesday, 5 May 2026.
Bima Arya stated that the dynamics of regional leadership are now increasingly complex, influenced by global, national, and local demands. “Every leader has their time, and every era has its leader. The challenges also vary,” he said.
The first challenge stems from the global geopolitical context that directly impacts regions, such as fluctuations in fuel prices and food inflation. “Today’s challenges are different. What happens at the global level can directly affect the regions,” he explained.
Next, national challenges are marked by the presence of various government priority programmes that must be overseen by regional heads. Performance indicators now increasingly rely on the successful implementation of these programmes.
In addition, regional heads also face local challenges, particularly in realising political promises while meeting basic community needs. “Global, national, and local—these are three challenges that are not easy,” he said.
Bima Arya then introduced the statecraft concept emphasised by President Prabowo Subianto as a new approach to government management. “The President emphasised that leaders must be competent, skilled, and intelligent. Being intelligent alone is not enough,” he said.
According to him, statecraft demands that regional heads are able to work effectively, quickly, and reliably in managing government and responding to various challenges.
He also exemplified several regional innovations in increasing Regional Original Revenue (PAD), such as organising advertisements, managing parking, and implementing Government and Business Entity Cooperation (KPBU) schemes. In addition, cross-regional collaboration is deemed important, especially in handling sectoral issues like inflation, without being hindered by formal institutional approaches.
“Sectoral cooperation often runs faster than formal institutional approaches,” he said.
The National Development Orchestration Forum is expected to produce concrete steps to strengthen synergy between central and regional governments, particularly in Kalimantan, which is a strategic area along with the development of the Archipelago Capital (IKN). “The target is that from this forum, there are agendas that can be directly implemented into real actions,” he said.
This forum is part of the 2026 Outstanding Regional Government Appreciation. There are 144 regions that will receive incentives in this appreciation, divided into six regions: Sumatra, Kalimantan, Java-Bali, Sulawesi, Maluku and Nusa Tenggara, and Papua.