Prabowo Reveals Some State-Owned Enterprises Were Almost Sold to Foreign Parties

President Prabowo Subianto has said that a number of state-owned enterprises (SOEs) were once slated to be sold to foreign parties. However, those sale plans were cancelled after Prabowo prohibited them.

Prabowo made the statement during a speech at the inauguration of five dams in West Nusa Tenggara on Friday, 10 July 2026. “There were so many companies that seemed about to be sold to foreigners. I forbade it,” said Prabowo, as quoted from a Presidential Secretariat release.

According to Prabowo, several of the SOEs that had been earmarked for sale to foreign parties were strategic companies, such as PT PAL Indonesia, PT Pindad, PT Dirgantara Indonesia and PT Garuda Indonesia. He was taken aback when he learned, early in his presidency in 2024, that a number of these SOEs were about to be sold to foreign parties.

The chairman of the Gerindra Party said he would strive to revive these strategic companies. “PT PAL can now build magnificent warships, it can already build submarines. PT PAL will build advanced vessels,” said Prabowo.

He said there are currently more than a thousand SOEs in operation, counting parent companies, subsidiaries and their sub-subsidiaries. Some of these SOEs are inefficient and continue to rack up losses. For that reason, Prabowo plans to shut down a number of them. He will reduce the number of SOEs to around 250 companies.