BKN: Strengthening Civil Servants Key to Supporting Regional Fiscal Independence

The Head of the National Civil Service Agency (BKN), Zudan Arif Fakrulloh, has stated that strengthening the quality of the state civil apparatus (ASN) is a crucial factor in supporting regional economic transformation to achieve fiscal independence. He noted that approximately 33 per cent of Indonesia’s 6.7 million civil servants still have an educational level below a diploma, presenting a challenge in building public services that are adaptive and capable of responding to economic changes and technological developments. Zudan made these remarks during the Regional Autonomy Dialogue organised by the Association of Indonesia Regency Governments (Apkasi) in Deli Serdang, North Sumatra. The forum, themed ‘Encouraging Fiscal Independence through Optimising Regional Revenue Sources’, brought together regional heads and various stakeholders to discuss strategies for sustaining development amid limited fiscal space. Zudan added that the BKN has streamlined the civil servant transfer process to just five working days and is providing free competency profiling services for approximately 650,000 prospective officials throughout 2026. Strengthening bureaucratic capacity is considered vital as local governments require officials capable of identifying regional economic potential, fostering collaboration, and delivering efficient public services. At the same forum, senior economist and CORE Indonesia founder Hendri Saparini argued that regional governments need to create new economic growth engines beyond their Regional Budgets (APBD) to reduce dependency on central government transfers.