Doha – The President-elect for 2024-2029, Prabowo Subianto, is optimistic that Indonesia’s economy can achieve growth up to 8% within the next two to three years.
This statement was made by Prabowo while attending the 2024 Qatar Economic Forum in Doha on Wednesday (15/5). On that occasion, Prabowo was asked about the projected economic growth that could be achieved during his five-year leadership.
“I am very confident; I have spoken with experts and studied the numbers. I believe we can easily reach 8%. I am determined to exceed that,” said Prabowo, who was accompanied by the Vice President-elect Gibran Rakabuming Raka.
“Yes, hopefully (it can be achieved) in the next two to three years,” he continued.
Furthermore, Prabowo stated that downstreaming policies will be key to achieving future economic growth. He mentioned that downstreaming will still take a few years to implement.
He also highlighted that one of the drivers of economic growth in the first year of his government would be agriculture and food (production and distribution) as well as energy.
“We want to go green very quickly. We want to produce diesel from palm oil, and this will be a very strong driver of economic growth,” revealed Prabowo.
“So far, we import 20 billion US dollars every year for diesel. So, you can imagine the savings we will achieve if we switch to biofuels,” he added.
Prabowo emphasized that adopting downstreaming policies to reduce imports does not mean that Indonesia is adopting a protectionist economic stance. He wants Indonesia to become an advanced industrial nation and not just remain a raw material exporter.
According to him, every country will fight for its national interests, especially to protect its people.
“I think this is a misconception. We are not protectionist. What we are doing is very logical; every country in the world will fight for or protect its core national interests, its people,”
“We want to industrialize, and it is our natural resources that must be protected for the people’s benefit. We must get full value for it. We can’t keep importing industrial goods all the time. That’s not fair to our people,” Prabowo firmly stated.