Prabowo: Don't Allow Indonesian Wealth To Be Taken Foreignly

Prabowo Subianto delivered a speech at the declaration of Setia Prabowo in Jakarta, Saturday (7/10/2023). (ANTARA/Cahya Sari)

JAKARTA - Prabowo Subianto's presidential candidate emphasized that the Indonesian people should not allow and allow the wealth owned by the country to be crushed and controlled by foreign countries.

"We know, we understand, the data exists, the fact is that our country is a very rich country, incredibly rich. Therefore, we must be determined, we must not allow our wealth to be taken," Prabowo told the volunteers in Setia Prabowo's declaration for the 2024 General Election. in Jakarta reported by ANTARA, Saturday, October 7th.

Prabowo said that the current and previous president of Indonesia, namely from the era of Soekarno's leadership to Joko Widodo, all of them have fought and tried to give their best for the welfare of the people.

"I believe and believe that all of our previous presidents had as much intentions as possible for our people. I believe that because I happen to also know those presidents, except Bung Karno, yes, I was too small (when Soekarnome led), I didn't really know," he explained.

However, he continued, this welfare has always been disturbed by world powers, because the wealth of natural resources (SDA) owned by Indonesia is so large, such as minerals, the mining sector, to the sea and forestry.

This wealth needs to be maintained together through industrial downstreaming, so that no more raw goods are exported to foreign countries but are processed and produced domestically to produce added value.

"I want to raise the awareness of all the people, especially the elite, so that we understand. Don't be too innocent, we must protect that wealth," said Prabowo.

He also gave an example of Indonesia's natural resources from the marine sector, where the gross domestic product (GDP) of the Indonesian fisheries sector reached 30 billion US dollars or equivalent to IDR 450 trillion in 2022.

This amount, according to Prabowo, could be higher if Indonesia could process its derivative products, and not be careless and allow existing marine wealth to be taken by foreign countries.

Indonesia has a coastline along 81,290 km which makes it the country with the second longest line in the world after Canada. This potential has a very high economic value if it can be managed and utilized properly.

"This is the value if we cultivate fish, cultivate shrimp, cultivate seaweed, and so on, it's extraordinary. We have to protect that wealth. Education is the key to all of that," he said.