Home Affairs Minister: High-Performing Regions to Receive Incentive Funds

JAKARTA, KOMPAS.com – Minister of Home Affairs (Mendagri) Tito Karnavian confirmed that the 2026 Best Regional Government Appreciation program is supported by a fiscal incentive of Rp1 trillion allocated as the Regional Incentive Fund (DID).

‘Rp1 trillion will be allocated to provide rewards or incentives. It’s not a government grant; financially, it’s a fiscal incentive. That’s what we call DID, the Regional Incentive Fund,’ Tito said.

He made the statement during the annual 2026 Best Regional Government Appreciation event for the Sulawesi region at Claro Hotel in Kendari City on Friday, May 29, 2026.

Tito said the awards for regional leaders are assessed across four areas.

‘Essentially, it’s about which regional leaders are most adept at generating revenue,’ Tito said.

According to Tito, the award scheme has been structured regionally to ensure areas with smaller fiscal capacity still have a fair chance to compete.

‘After internal review at the Ministry of Home Affairs, if judged nationally, winners would typically be large cities or regencies. Smaller ones would lose,’ he said.

He cited that regions with small regional budgets would struggle to compete against areas with large budgets like West Java, Central Java, or Jakarta.

Therefore, the Ministry of Home Affairs divided the assessment into six regions across Indonesia.

Following Sumatra, Kalimantan, and Nusa Tenggara, the Sulawesi region is now holding the awards.

‘This is why we’ve structured it region by region,’ Tito said.

He said assessments are conducted quantitatively using official data from the Regional Government Information System (SIPD), ensuring objective and transparent results.

‘What we assess must be quantifiable. For example, unemployment, poverty, and inflation control. The data from BPS can’t be faked,’ he said.

‘I don’t even know who won today, honestly. So if anyone doesn’t get it, I apologise. Because the numbers don’t lie,’ he added.

Beyond motivating regional leaders, Tito said the awards are important to demonstrate that many competent leaders exist despite numerous legal cases against officials.

‘The second point is to show that we are concerned about our friends, regional leaders facing legal issues. But not all are bad. This event also shows there are many good regional leaders,’ Tito said.