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View all search resultsBigger, not better: Prabowo’s two-year report card
Greatness is not declared from a podium, and as state control replaces market discipline, Indonesia’s vital signs are heading the wrong way.
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A worker inspects rice sacks on Dec. 29, 2025, at the State Logistics Agency (Bulog) warehouse in Lambaro, Aceh. (AFP/Chaideer Mahyuddin)
P
resident Prabowo Subianto rarely misses an opportunity to remind us that Indonesia is a great and respected nation. As his administration marks its second anniversary, it is fair to ask whether that claim holds in the one arena where trust is never granted by default but earned each day: the global marketplace.
In economic terms, trust is straightforward: It means the world chooses our products, respects our regulatory framework and hires our workforce. To assess that trust, we propose three critical benchmarks: how competitive our economy remains, how effectively we educate our youth, and how securely and affordably we feed our people.
Start with competitiveness.
In his first year, President Prabowo began steering the state into the driver’s seat of foreign trade. In March 2025, his administration mandated that natural resource exporters retain their foreign exchange earnings onshore for an entire year. By September 2025, private fuel distributors facing supply shortages were instructed to procure inventory directly from state-owned oil and gas giant Pertamina.
This interventionist drive gathered momentum in 2026. In January, state enterprises were allocated 250,000 of the year’s 297,000-tonne beef import quota, leaving private operators with just 30,000 tonnes, down sharply from 180,000 tonnes, according to industry sources.
In May, the government announced that a newly created state entity would serve as the exclusive exporter for palm oil, coal and ferroalloys, representing roughly a quarter of national outbound trade, effective Sept. 1. By June, exporters were compelled to channel their foreign receipts strictly through state-owned banks.
The message broadcast to global buyers and foreign investors was unmistakable: The state, not market efficiency, dictates commercial terms, and regulations can shift overnight.
