Prabowo Reveals Reasons for Frequent Overseas Trips to Safeguard People's Economy

JAKARTA - President of the Republic of Indonesia Prabowo Subianto has revealed the reasons behind his frequent official trips abroad. Prabowo admitted that these overseas duties are intended to safeguard the Indonesian people’s economy. “That’s why every Indonesian president gets tired; people think I like travelling there, but I travel to protect my people. To protect what? Jobs,” said Prabowo in a dialogue with journalists and experts, quoted from a video shared by the Presidential Secretariat on Sunday (22/3/2026). However, the process of negotiating cooperation with friendly countries proceeds more quickly when the President of the Republic of Indonesia intervenes personally. Prabowo cited the agreement between Indonesia and the European Union on the Comprehensive Economic Partnership Agreement (CEPA), which only succeeded after lengthy negotiations lasting 10 years. “If I don’t lobby, then the ministers handle it. In the end, I have to come. Yes, right? To the King of Belgium, to the King of the Netherlands, to the European Union. Finally, we have smoother CEPA trade. 10 years, you know. We broke through, yes,” explained Prabowo. “With Canada too, CEPA for trade to open up. Now we have our goods at 0 percent to Canada, to the European Union,” Prabowo continued. Therefore, good relations with all countries are indeed necessary. “So in the current world, geopolitics has become geo-economics. If your relations are not good, you face all sorts of pressures,” he stated. On this occasion, Prabowo also highlighted Indonesia’s vast natural resources wealth. For hundreds of years, Indonesia has been targeted by other countries due to its natural riches. “So we’ve always been, from the past, a target, even coveted because of our wealth like that. Like it or not,” said Prabowo. “We’re members of ASEAN, you know. Asia has 10 countries, now 11. But we’re also what? We’re members of the G20, 20 countries. After that, we’re what? We’re members of the OIC. After that, G, we join many. Well, if we’re invited and we don’t come, it’s not good, right,” he added.