Downstreaming and Export Proceeds Could Make Indonesia a Major Player on the Global Economic Stage

The PoliEco Digital Insight Institute (PEDAS) assesses that the strengthening of natural resource governance, industrial downstreaming, and the optimisation of Export Proceeds (DHE) demonstrate a growing spirit of economic nationalism in the current policy direction of President Prabowo Subianto’s administration. PEDAS Director Anthony Leong stated that these policies align with President Prabowo’s views on the importance of nationalism in economic development. “Quoting the thoughts of economic sociologist Liah Greenfeld in the book The Spirit of Capitalism: Nationalism and Economic Growth, it is explained that modern economic progress does not arise by chance, but grows from a nation’s ability to fight for its own economic interests,” Leong said in a statement on Saturday, 13 June 2026. He noted that history shows almost all countries that have achieved major economic leaps built their progress on a strong foundation of economic nationalism, including the United States, Japan, South Korea, and China. “Economic nationalism does not mean closing ourselves off from the international world. It means ensuring that national wealth, national foreign exchange, and national strategic resources are managed for the greatest prosperity of the people. This is what the Prabowo administration is currently building,” he stated. PEDAS noted that commodities included in the initial phase of the strategic export governance scheme, such as coal, crude palm oil (CPO), and ferroalloys, have an annual export value exceeding US$66 billion, or roughly a quarter of total national exports. This significant economic value demonstrates how strategic the government’s current policies are in strengthening Indonesia’s position within the global trade chain. He argued that Indonesia is currently reinforcing its long-term economic foundation through policies aimed at increasing the added value of natural resources, boosting state revenues, and strengthening the resilience of the national financial sector. “The question is not whether there are differing views on government policy. In political economy, that is normal,” Anthony said. “What is more important is whether the policy strengthens Indonesia’s national interests, improves people’s welfare, and increases the economic benefits from our natural wealth. It is in that context that this policy must be assessed,” he concluded.