Luhut Assures Investors Indonesia Will Not Collapse

JAKARTA — National Economic Council (DEN) Chairman Luhut Binsar Pandjaitan has urged investors to invest in Indonesia, assuring them the country will not collapse. ‘This is the best time to invest in Indonesia as it will not collapse. It may just take time to rebound,’ Luhut said during a discussion with AMRO at his Jakarta office on Monday, 25 May 2026. Luhut expressed confidence that Indonesia’s economy will rebound with strong growth driven by domestic demand, citing the free nutritious meals (MBG) programme as one initiative to boost this. ‘One thing we may need to evaluate is how to implement it. Frankly, colleagues in Indonesia want to pilot it first,’ he said. This pilot approach is part of Luhut’s government digitalisation programme. The DEN has developed an integrated digitalisation pilot in Banyuwangi, East Java. The pilot was initiated due to inefficiencies in direct social assistance (bansos), which had only 77% accuracy. Through trials in 44 regencies, the misallocation of bansos has been reduced. ‘I believe the best solution for building an efficient ecosystem and preventing corruption is through digitalisation with the aid of artificial intelligence,’ he said. Luhut claims the push for digital systems is based on the success of PeduliLindungi, a citizen monitoring app developed during the Covid-19 pandemic that distinguished itself in tracking transmission. ‘We also have experience with e-catalogues and Simbara [Mineral and Coal Information System], which tracks and monitors all critical minerals set for export from Indonesia,’ he added.