Meeting Japanese Investors, Prabowo States Indonesia Has Never Defaulted on Debt
President Prabowo Subianto has reaffirmed Indonesia’s commitment to maintaining the trust of global investors, including upholding its reputation for never having defaulted on debt throughout its history.
He made this statement at the Japan-Indonesia Business Forum in Tokyo, Japan, on Monday (30/3/2026), attended by Indonesian-Japanese businesspeople and representatives from both governments.
According to Prabowo, Indonesia’s consistent reputation for fulfilling its financial obligations serves as a strong foundation for attracting investment amid global uncertainties.
“Our reputation is very clear; this is not a reputation of five, ten, or fifteen years. For decades, Indonesia has been known for never defaulting on debt, not even once in the history of the Republic of Indonesia,” said Prabowo in his speech.
He stated that with this track record, Indonesia has greater capacity to forge strategic partnerships for investors, as it is expected to provide a sense of security and confidence that the government is serious about protecting investment interests.
“This will provide assurance and a sense of security that we are serious and will protect all investors,” he said.
Furthermore, according to Prabowo, many large economies are currently experiencing debt defaults, not just once, but multiple times. However, Indonesia continues to prove it can maintain investor trust.
To that end, to Japanese businesspeople and government, Prabowo offered concrete partnerships to build industries and conduct technology transfers between the two countries.
“I think this is important. In the current era, we see many large economies experiencing defaults, not just once or twice, but multiple times. Indonesia, with all its shortcomings, has proven itself to be a country that upholds honour sufficiently,” he stated.
On that occasion, Prabowo also revealed that Indonesia already has a sovereign wealth fund (SWF) that consolidates nearly all state-owned enterprises (SOEs). With this unified management under one parent entity, he hopes that the management of red-plate companies will become more rational, applying best practices, eradicating corruption, and inefficient practices.
“The results are very promising. In just the first year of operation of our sovereign wealth fund, we have already seen significant improvements, with some achievements even showing an increase of nearly 300% in asset return rates,” said Prabowo.