President: Pancasila as the Guiding Principle for the National Economic System
Jakarta (ANTARA) – President Prabowo Subianto stated that Pancasila serves as a fundamental guiding principle for regulating all aspects of national and state life, including the blueprint for the national economic system.
‘Pancasila is the guiding principle for regulating national life, community life, state life, including how we build our national economic system,’ President Prabowo said while serving as the inspecting officer at the Pancasila Birth Anniversary ceremony at the Ministry of Foreign Affairs’ Pancasila Building in Jakarta on Monday.
The President noted that the importance of Pancasila in the modern era must be reflected through honest assessment of domestic economic growth over recent decades, which has been uneven and not fairly felt by all citizens.
On the religious and humanitarian aspects of the economy, he said Indonesia’s abundant natural wealth is not merely commercial commodities but a trust that must be managed responsibly for the greatest prosperity of the people and future generations.
President Prabowo emphasised that the egalitarian and people-centric Pancasila economic blueprint draws from the founders’ design clearly outlined in Article 33 of the 1945 Constitution. He stated that the constitutional mandate requires strengthening cooperatives and small and medium enterprises to lift people out of poverty.
‘Cooperatives must be strengthened, cooperatives must rise; they are one of the tools to lift our people from poverty and helplessness. Small and medium enterprises must be bolstered, and villages must become centres of new economic growth,’ the Head of State said.
Further concrete implementation of the Pancasila economy includes strategic transformation steps such as strengthening natural resource downstreaming, implementing a single-door export policy, strengthening foreign exchange management from exports, and running a free nutritious meal programme to build healthy and intelligent generations.
‘As our founders and proclamator Bung Karno once advised us, we must have the courage to stand on our own feet; that is the essence of a sovereign nation,’ President Prabowo added.
The 81st anniversary ceremony of Pancasila’s birth, themed ‘Pancasila as the Unifier of the Nation, Foundation of World Peace,’ was attended by former President Megawati Soekarnoputri, who is also the Supervisor of the Pancasila Ideology Development Body, former Vice-President Jusuf Kalla, former Vice-President Ma’ruf Amin, and current Vice-President Gibran Rakabuming Raka.
Additionally, the ceremony was attended by various government officials, members of the Red and White Cabinet, TNI-Polri personnel, community leaders, and students.