Prabowo Reveals How Centralised Procurement Slashes Smart Board Costs Sixfold

President Prabowo Subianto has revealed how the government managed to achieve budget savings of nearly six times on a specific item following the consolidation of spending. The savings were demonstrated in the procurement of interactive smart boards, which regional governments previously purchased separately for around Rp150 million per unit. After consolidating the purchases through the Ministry of Primary and Secondary Education, the government was able to buy the units for Rp26 million each, including shipping and installation costs to remote areas. Prabowo stressed that fiscal discipline must be applied during spending, not just after the budget is approved. He criticised the practice of thousands of government entities, from central ministries to local administrations, buying identical goods independently at vastly different prices. Quoting data from the Government Goods/Services Procurement Policy Institute, Prabowo noted that procurement consolidation in 2025 achieved 20.86% efficiency. He projected that by applying this method across the entire Rp1,200 trillion procurement budget, annual savings could reach Rp360 trillion.