Indonesian President Prabowo Subianto was one of the keynote speakers at the Plenum of the St. Petersburg International Economic Forum (SPIEF) on Friday, June 20. He gave a very powerful speech which clearly represented not only his country but also the BRICS and the Global South generally.
He said:
• “Indonesia is the fourth most populous country in the world. Every year there are 5 million new Indonesians, every year there are 5 million new Indonesians!”
• “I believe that the task of any state is to protect its people, and this means that we must protect our people from hunger, from poverty and from the suffering that is caused by the difficult conditions in which they exist. So when I came to lead the Indonesian government, my first task was to ensure self-sufficiency in food. Second, self-sufficiency in energy. Third, it was necessary to improve the quality of education and the level of education of Indonesians so that we could compete in the very difficult conditions of the 21st century. Fourth, it was necessary to accelerate the pace of industrialization of Indonesia.”
• ["A]ny country should have its own economic policy and its own economic philosophy. One of the most serious mistakes that many countries in Southeast Asia make is this: We always follow in the wake of the biggest, most powerful forces in our world. Over the last 30 years, we have witnessed the dominance of the neoliberal capitalist classical free market model. This philosophy, this model followed the concept of a free economy. And our Indonesian elite followed in the wake of this model.”
But this has not brought prosperity to our country, he added, but also, “we have not been able to ensure that the benefits of this growth are distributed to all layers of society. The wealthiest citizens of Indonesia make up less than 1% of the total population. This is probably not the best option, in my opinion. And that is why I believe that each country should follow its own economic philosophy. A philosophy that would meet the interests of the country, that would correspond to the cultural attitudes of the respective country. That is why I chose the path of compromise, namely: to take the best of socialism and the best of capitalism.”
He developed this further:
• “For developing countries like Indonesia, there is a threat, namely the threat of the state being taken over by certain interest groups. Big capital, big business and government officials can collude with each other. This situation will certainly not lead to a reduction in poverty and a growth of the middle class. So we have chosen a philosophy that can essentially be formulated in one sentence: the greatest good for the greatest number of people.”
He is proud of his achievements, especially in regard to food, saying that they has increased rice and corn production by almost 50%. “And this is the most significant increase in the production of these crops in the entire history of my country. We now have 4.6 million tons of rice in our government storage facilities. This is the largest amount of food reserves in Indonesia’s history. We have achieved this in just a few months since I took office…. I have set the following goal—self-sufficiency in food in four years. I am confident that we will be able to achieve this much earlier, literally this year. And in a few years we will become a net exporter of rice and corn.”
• “I believe if Indonesia can play a positive role in the international relations sphere, talking about our participation in BRICS…. We thank the Government of the Russian Federation for supporting our application to join this organization, this support was provided very quickly. We were probably the first to join this association. And I thank the former President of Brazil, Ms. Rousseff, who is now the President of the New Development Bank. The New Development Bank also accepted us as a member very quickly. I thank China for its support and the Government of South Africa for its support. So I believe that together, we, the BRICS countries, can make a significant contribution to ensuring stability and prosperity throughout the world.”
