Prabowo: Global Crisis Accelerates Indonesia's Food and Energy Self-Sufficiency Targets
JAKARTA – President Prabowo Subianto believes the global crisis triggered by geopolitical dynamics is actually spurring Indonesia to accelerate its efforts to achieve food and energy self-sufficiency.
He made this statement while leading a Full Cabinet Meeting at the State Palace in Jakarta on Friday, 13 March 2026.
According to Prabowo, the current global situation is forcing the government to accelerate various strategic measures that have been planned for a considerable time.
“In my view, the crisis is actually accelerating our transformation plan. In the end, we are forced to accelerate. We have understood the problem; for a long time, we have wanted food self-sufficiency and energy self-sufficiency. We have already been heading in that direction. But now we will speed it up,” Prabowo said.
“We already know that we must shift towards renewable energy, towards energy that we possess ourselves. We understand that. This accelerates things. So this forces us to work harder,” Prabowo added.
Prabowo also mentioned that Indonesia possesses various natural resources that can be exploited as alternative energy sources, including biofuel derived from agricultural commodities such as palm oil, sugarcane, cassava, and maize.
Moreover, Indonesia also holds significant potential in developing other renewable energy sources, such as geothermal and hydroelectric power.
Under this plan, the government is targeting the development of solar power capacity up to 100 gigawatts within the next two years. To realise this project, land requirements are estimated to reach approximately 100,000 hectares, with parts of the potential already identified.
“We will carry out very rapid development of solar power, which we plan to complete at 100 gigawatts within the next two years. 100 gigawatts equals 100,000 megawatts. This means roughly we need 100,000 hectares,” Prabowo said.
“We have also discovered a large gas field in the Andaman Sea that has been found and will be developed in the short term by Mubadala. We will also soon be opening the Masela field, another very large gas field,” Prabowo stated.
With the various natural resources at its disposal, Prabowo expressed confidence that Indonesia is capable of facing global challenges whilst simultaneously strengthening the foundation of national self-reliance, particularly in the food and energy sectors.