Bima Arya Urges Regional Heads to Uphold Integrity Amid Complex Challenges
Wakil Menteri Dalam Negeri (Wamendagri) Bima Arya Sugiarto has reminded regional heads to consistently uphold integrity in governance. He stated that clean leadership serves as the primary foundation for achieving sustainable regional development and improving public welfare.
Bima emphasised that regional heads currently face increasingly complex challenges. Beyond geopolitical dynamics, they must oversee national priority programmes, fulfil campaign promises, and navigate the rapidly evolving digital media landscape.
“Today, regional heads face four tests, namely geopolitics, overseeing national priority programmes, fulfilling campaign promises, and facing the very dynamic movement of digital algorithms. It is not easy and requires strategies that are in line with current algorithmic trends,” Bima said in a written statement on Friday (3/7/2026).
The message was delivered during his keynote speech at the Regional Autonomy Dialogue themed ‘Strategy for Realising Regional Fiscal Independence’ in conjunction with the 26th anniversary of the Association of Indonesian Regency Governments (APKASI) at the Medistra Health Institute Hall, Deli Serdang Regency, North Sumatra, on Thursday (2/7).
Amid these challenges, Bima reminded regional heads not to neglect integrity in every policy decision. He expressed hope that regents would complete their terms successfully through clean, innovative, and public service-oriented leadership.
According to Bima, integrity must be accompanied by the ability to create innovations to strengthen regional fiscal independence. Regional heads are required to optimise local potential through various breakthroughs to ensure development continues without disregarding the principles of good governance.
He explained that the Ministry of Home Affairs (Kemendagri) has mapped the characteristics of regional heads based on the condition of their Regional Budgets (APBD) and the quality of public services. Regions with a ‘transformer’ character, he noted, are those capable of increasing fiscal capacity while simultaneously improving the quality of services to the public.
“Alternative regional revenues and funding through Public-Private Partnership (KPBU) schemes have been successfully implemented in several regencies,” he said.
Furthermore, Bima encouraged regency governments to support the Village Head Goes to Campus programme initiated by the Ministry of Home Affairs through the Directorate General of Village Governance. The programme aims to enhance the capacity of village heads in data management, development planning, and optimising village potential as drivers of regional economic growth.
Bima also invited regional heads to strengthen their regional branding in accordance with their respective characteristics and potential. He noted that the development of tourism, the creative economy, and sport tourism can become new sources of economic growth while increasing locally generated revenue (PAD). Thus, fiscal independence can be realised through innovative and high-integrity governance.