Doha, Qatar – Prabowo Subianto, President-elect for the 2024-2029 period, highlighted the importance of building a strong foundation for the progress of the country, as conveyed at the Qatar Economic Forum held from May 14 to 16, 2024 in Doha, Qatar.
In his dialogue with Haslinda Amin, the Chief International Correspondent for Southeast Asia at Bloomberg, Prabowo emphasized that nation-building is a continuous process.
He also stressed that Indonesian President Joko Widodo has laid a strong foundation for future progress.
“As you know, nation-building is a long-term process. President Joko Widodo has built a strong foundation. I am determined to build on that foundation. My main focus is food security,” said Prabowo.
Furthermore, when asked about priorities, Prabowo emphasized the importance of food and energy self-sufficiency and security.
“My main focus is food security. Indonesia must be food self-sufficient, then energy security, energy sufficiency. We are committed to eradicating poverty, with a large-scale campaign, a huge effort,” he continued.
Continuing his dialogue, Prabowo firmly stated his commitment to addressing nutrition issues for Indonesian children with a free lunch program.
“I am determined to eliminate hunger in our people. We have studied this. We have studied all the numbers, and we are very confident that we can do it,” he said.
For the funding of this program, Prabowo stated that Indonesia has a careful fiscal management tradition and in his leadership, he will be more efficient, bold, and have good governance.
On that occasion, Prabowo also expressed his commitment to continue the industrial downstreaming policy.
“We must protect our interests in the sense that we must get added value. We cannot continue to import industrial goods. This is not good for our people. We will not become an advanced industrial society if we only produce raw materials,” Prabowo said.
Therefore, Prabowo reiterated that his work plan is a concrete step towards bringing Indonesia towards sustainable prosperity. He also emphasized the importance of collaboration with international parties.
On this occasion, Prabowo was accompanied by Vice President-elect for the 2024-2029 period, Gibran Rakabuming Raka.
