Economist Responds to Prabowo's Ambition for Indonesia to Become a Rising Giant

President Prabowo Subianto is highly optimistic that Indonesia can rise as a major global power or “rising giant” when inaugurating the electric commercial vehicle assembly facility of PT VKTR Sakti Industries in Magelang, Central Java, on Thursday, 9 April 2026. According to the Head of State, Indonesia has vast resources, particularly in the energy sector.

Prabowo stated that the wealth of natural resources serves as a major asset for optimism amid global uncertainties. “We must remain vigilant, but we are optimistic. We will face challenges in the coming months, but we have resources. We have very strong and abundant sources,” he said, as quoted from the official statement of the Presidential Secretariat on Saturday, 11 April 2026.

According to the President, to survive, Indonesia must achieve self-sufficiency in the most critical areas, primarily food and energy. “Next year, we will surprise the whole world; Indonesia is rising. This giant is waking up. We will no longer be the sleeping giant; we are rising,” he said.

Economist and lecturer at the National Development University Veteran Jakarta, Achmad Nur Hidayat, stated that abundant natural resources can indeed serve as capital, but not as the end goal. Possessing natural resources will not make Indonesia rise if those commodities are not transformed into added value.

Achmad exemplified products like nickel, bauxite, copper, and other commodities. “If only sold raw or semi-processed, Indonesia will remain in its old position as a supplier of raw materials,” he told Tempo on Friday, 10 April 2026.

However, he said, data shows that Indonesia’s capital base is very strong. Indonesia has nickel ore resources of 19.16 billion tonnes with reserves of 5.9 billion tonnes. Bauxite resources reach 7.79 billion tonnes with reserves of 2.86 billion tonnes. Copper and coal are also very substantial.

In the energy sector, for instance, Indonesia’s geothermal potential is among the largest in the world. “With such capacity, Indonesia actually has sufficient materials to build serious downstream processing and reduce dependence on raw exports,” he said.

Achmad stated that in recent years, the direction of downstream policies has begun to show results. Indonesia’s exports are no longer entirely dominated by raw materials. But the problem is that many Indonesian processed products still stop at the initial stage.

He emphasised that the main issue is not a lack of resources, but the quality of their utilisation. Another challenge is the direction of economic transition. Indonesia still heavily relies on commodities that are easy to sell today, such as coal, while the potential for clean energy like geothermal has not been maximally utilised.

Further, Achmad mentioned that Indonesia indeed has very strong and abundant natural resources. But strength is not enough from the mere abundance in the earth’s contents, but from the ability to transform natural wealth into industrial sovereignty.

If successful, Indonesia will not only escape the trap of being a raw commodity exporter but truly stand as a respected rising giant. “If it fails, we will only remain a large warehouse frequented by buyers, but never truly own our own future,” said Achmad.