Teguh Santosa: Food Sovereignty Is CLOSE To Good Neighbor's Principle

JAKARTA The national press community is invited to pay attention to the two key words of Prabowo Subianto's government policy, namely 'food sovereign' (food sovereign) and 'good neighbor' (good neighbor).

These two things are seen as having close ties to each other. Food sovereignty gives Indonesia the flexibility to play active free politics in the international arena.

This was conveyed by the General Chair of the Indonesian Cyber Media Network (JMSI) Teguh Santosa in his remarks at an international seminar themed "Improving Indonesia-Korea Relationship in Prabowo Administration, from Food Sovereignty to Good Neighbor" held at the Press Council Hall, Jalan Kebon Sirih, Central Jakarta, Tuesday, November 26, 2024.

The seminar organized by JMSI with KoreaKini.id was attended by a number of guests of honor, including the Deputy for Maritime Affairs and Natural Resources of the Ministry of National Development Planning Vivi Yulawati, Deputy Distribution of the Ministry of Food Coordination, Deputy Ambassador of the Republic of Korea (South Korea) Park Soo-Depok, Director General of European America of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs of the Republic of Indonesia who was once the Indonesian Ambassador in South Korea Umar Hadi, Director of East Asia of the Indonesian Ministry of Foreign Affairs Arifianto Sofianto, and Deputy Chairman of the Supreme Press Council Dharmajaya.

The speakers at the international seminar were Hyungjun Noh from the South Korean Rural Development Administration, Head of the Public Relations Bureau of the Ministry of Agriculture Moch. Arief Cahyono, George Mason University researcher Joshua Namtae Park, and researcher from the Center for Strategic and International Studies (CSIS) Andrew Mantong.

On many occasions, President Prabowo offers two keywords that are important for us to observe. First, food sovereignty. This is not just to ensure food availability, but also ensures mastery of technology and food production, including encouraging and empowering community members to actively participate in securing the food chain inclusively," said Teguh.

He underlined that food sovereignty can also be understood as a measurable and massive policy in repromoting the agricultural sector, strengthening farmer groups, and building rural areas.

The second key message, continued Teguh, is guidelines for foreign policy to be good neighbors, which promote new approaches with a collaborative dimension in the midst of increasingly challenging international interactions.

In our opinion, these two things have close ties to each other. Food sovereignty allows Indonesia to practice active free politics as well as be good neighbors in the international arena," he said again.

Teguh assessed that it is important to discuss the topic of food sovereignty and good countries by looking at the experiences of South Korea, which is an old friend of Indonesia. Moreover, the two countries have worked together in many fields in the framework of world welfare and peace.

"We believe there are best practices that can be picked by both countries to improve the quality of relations in the new era in Indonesia during the reign of President Prabowo Subianto," said Teguh.