Deputy Home Affairs Minister Urges Regional Heads to Optimise Creative Financing Schemes

Wakil Menteri Dalam Negeri (Wamendagri), Akhmad Wiyagus, has urged regional heads to develop adaptive leadership patterns to optimise creative financing schemes. He stated this approach is crucial to ensure regional development continues smoothly amid current global economic dynamics. According to him, this strategy is key to ensuring regional development proceeds without continuous dependence on the Regional Revenue and Expenditure Budget (APBD). He conveyed this during a Workshop on Regional Government Financial Management through Creative Financing at the Griya Mayang Hall, the official residence of the Mayor of Jambi, on Friday (3/7). “We know that amidst the efficiency drives for 2026, regional heads are now required to truly implement what is called adaptive leadership in the face of unpredictable global geopolitical escalations,” he said in a written statement on Saturday (4/7). Wiyagus explained that one step regional governments can take is to optimise assets that have so far been unproductive. Idle land or local government facilities that currently burden budgets can be managed in cooperation with third parties. Such cooperation, he said, has the potential to generate economic value while boosting Regional Original Revenue (PAD). He highlighted the successful management of the Gelora Bandung Lautan Api Stadium as an example, where maintenance is now cooperated with the Persib Bandung football club, thus no longer burdening the local government and instead providing economic benefits. Wiyagus assessed that the City of Jambi has strong capital to develop a similar strategy, as the city is led by a combination of figures with bureaucratic and business backgrounds. This synergy, he said, is likely to produce various financing innovations beyond conventional mechanisms. He requested that the Jambi City Government make maximum use of this. “So when talking about creative financing, it is already ideal. How these idle lands, which are local government assets, can truly be empowered and generate profit to increase PAD,” he stressed. Wiyagus also invited all ranks of the Jambi City Government to strengthen collaboration with the private sector and other stakeholders. He believes this step can accelerate fiscal independence as well as regional development. “Our hope is that the empowerment of third parties also shares the responsibility to build Jambi City into a city that no longer thinks conventionally and is not overly dependent on the central government,” he concluded.