Prabowo Must Focus on Eight Flagship Programmes as Economic Growth Engine, Say Economists

President Prabowo is currently implementing eight flagship programmes as part of a big push strategy—large scale, rapid, and well-coordinated—to resolve the nation’s structural problems. As a result, President Prabowo is advised to conduct evaluations of several ministries overseeing these eight flagship programmes within his government cabinet.

Bramastyo B. Prastowo, an economist at Adidaya Institute, emphasised that President Prabowo should not hesitate to reshuffle related ministers if their performance fails to deliver economic benefits to the public.

“Therefore, ministerial evaluation and reshuffles must be based on performance that can be verified publicly,” said Bramastyo in a statement on Friday, 27 February 2026.

“Anyone unable to execute, lacking transparency, and failing to produce real impact must be replaced,” he said.

Bramastyo reaffirmed that President Prabowo’s Big Bang and Big Push policy strategy will not succeed if the government cabinet is filled with figures who lack understanding of the framework and cannot execute the programmes effectively.

The President’s advisors must function as pillars supporting the Big Bang-Big Push strategy, rather than becoming obstacles. “Big Bang and Big Push only succeed if the cabinet is filled with delivery leaders (executing ministers) and not merely communicators,” said Bramastyo.

Although not naming specific ministers deemed to be underperforming in supporting Prabowo’s eight flagship programmes, Bramastyo believes President Prabowo certainly understands which ministries have yet to optimally execute these eight programmes.

“At minimum, all ministries associated with the eight flagship programmes (particularly the Economic Engine) must be evaluated by President Prabowo. We leave this entirely to the President’s prerogative,” he said.

Previously, a survey by Adidaya Institute concluded that 43 per cent of experts believe three of Prabowo-Gibran’s flagship programmes (Fishing Village Programme, Special Economic Zones, and Three Million Homes) can serve as engines for new economic growth. The expert survey indicated that these three programmes are capable of creating production, absorbing labour, and stimulating money circulation in regions.

The Expert Survey conducted by Adidaya Institute took place from December 2025 to February 2026 across 12 major cities in Indonesia, including Medan, Bandar Lampung, Jakarta, Bandung, Yogyakarta, Surabaya, Denpasar, Samarinda, Banjarmasin, Makassar, Manado and Ternate.