President Prabowo: Indonesia’s Future Is Bright

President Prabowo Subianto has again criticised those promoting the narrative of “Dark Indonesia” and warning that the country will fall or collapse.

He rejected claims that Indonesia’s future would be bleak, saying the country’s prospects were bright.

“Those who say Indonesia is dark, that it will collapse — every month they predict that we will collapse. But today I am here, and I see that Indonesia’s future is bright,” Prabowo said in a speech at the groundbreaking ceremony for 11 nickel downstreaming ecosystems and the first export of EV batteries in North Maluku on Thursday (8 October).

Prabowo said Indonesia had substantial natural resources and must manage them well so they could bring significant prosperity to the people.

“To that end, I am here to reaffirm the commitment of the Government of the Republic of Indonesia to respecting and safeguarding all investment, from wherever it comes, that is made on Indonesian soil,” he said.

Prabowo cited the groundbreaking ceremony in North Maluku as an example. He described the achievement as a major step for Indonesia and said he was convinced the government’s downstreaming policy was the right approach and would continue.

He said realised investment in the Indonesia Weda Bay Industrial Park (IWIP) had reached more than about US$20 billion, with a further US$7 billion in investment planned.

Prabowo added that since the development of the industrial park began, it had reportedly created more than 100,000 jobs.

This is not the first time Prabowo has rejected the “Dark Indonesia” narrative. Last July, he also took aim at those who said Indonesia would collapse, arguing that such predictions had repeatedly proved wrong.

“Every month they say Indonesia will collapse — June, collapse; now it’s July. They keep thinking about collapse. Let them,” Prabowo said at a harvest event with the Indonesian military in Malang on Friday (17 July).

Prabowo said he was optimistic Indonesia would become a developed country, able to stand on its own feet.

“But don’t keep blindly following foreign powers. Indonesia is bad, Indonesia is this, Indonesia is dark. If you wear dark glasses, everything will keep looking dark,” he said.

Prabowo said his government was determined to do its best to achieve that goal as quickly as possible.