DPD: Archipelagic Regions Bill Can Maximise Potential of Island Provinces
Indonesia is the largest archipelagic nation in the world. Yet millions of people living on small, outermost islands and in archipelagic regions still face development inequality to this day.
Limited access to education, healthcare services, connectivity, regional fiscal capacity, and the suboptimal use of maritime potential are among the problems hindering the welfare of these communities.
Against this backdrop, the DPD RI is championing the Archipelagic Regions Bill as a new foundation for national development that is fairer and better suited to Indonesia’s geographical character. That effort has now entered a crucial stage.
After being formally deliberated with the DPR RI, the DPD RI’s Archipelagic Regions Bill Working Team took part in a series of hearings held by the DPR RI’s Special Committee on the Archipelagic Regions Bill with the Ministry of Home Affairs, the Ministry of Defence, the Ministry of Marine Affairs and Fisheries, and the Ministry of Foreign Affairs.
The cross-ministerial deliberations aim to strengthen the substance of the bill so that it can address the problems of archipelagic development comprehensively, ranging from governance, fiscal justice, and the management of maritime potential, to strengthening national defence and sovereignty.
Andi Sofyan Hasdam, Chair of the DPD RI’s Archipelagic Regions Bill Working Team, stressed that the bill is an effort to correct a national development paradigm that has long been oriented towards land-based regions. Indonesia, after all, has long been recognised by the world as an archipelagic state, so development policy should be able to accommodate the characteristics of island regions more fairly.
“We have recognised since the Djuanda Declaration that Indonesia is an archipelagic state, yet all this time we have been oriented towards the land,” Andi Sofyan said in a written statement on Thursday (16 July 2026).
According to Andi, the Archipelagic Regions Bill is not intended to grant special privileges to certain regions, but rather to introduce affirmative policies so that archipelagic regions gain equal opportunities in development.
The regulation is expected to strengthen governance, public services, connectivity, the management of regional potential, and funding schemes suited to the characteristics of island regions. The urgency of the bill is all the more apparent given that some 28.5 million people live in ten archipelagic provinces, and around 3.7 million of them still live in poverty.
“It is time we transformed the strategic potential of archipelagic regions into a real contribution to the nation’s progress,” he said.
Meanwhile, R. Graal Taliawo, Deputy Chair of the DPD RI’s Archipelagic Regions Bill Working Team, said the bill was born of the need to introduce a development paradigm that views Indonesia as an archipelagic nation with diverse regional characteristics.
To date, the land-oriented approach to development has meant that many problems in archipelagic regions have not been addressed optimally.
“This bill offers the state a perspective or way of thinking about developing Indonesia based on that diversity, especially in archipelagic regions. Until now, there has been no specific foundation for how this country develops its island regions,” he said.
According to Graal, the main spirit of the bill is not to make regions ever more dependent on the central government, but to strengthen regional capacity to manage their own potential, particularly in the marine and fisheries sectors.
With this approach, archipelagic regions are expected to grow into new centres of the maritime economy that deliver direct benefits to local communities while reinforcing the national economy.
“This bill is about maximising the potential that exists. We should not think of these regions as begging from the central government,” he said.
Graal also stressed that the development of archipelagic regions cannot be separated from the strategic interests of the state. Prosperous border regions will form the frontline in safeguarding Indonesia’s sovereignty while strengthening the country’s position as a maritime nation.
The DPD RI hopes deliberations on the Archipelagic Regions Bill can be completed soon so that it becomes a legal foundation that accelerates equitable development, boosts the competitiveness of island regions, and affirms Indonesia as an archipelagic nation capable of managing its maritime potential fairly and sustainably.
“One of the aims of this bill is to empower border regions, so they can prosper and become a living defence for this nation,” he concluded.