At the WEF, Prabowo Introduces the Term "Greedonomics" to Illegal Business
JAKARTA - President Prabowo Subianto introduced the term Greedonomics or greedy economy to illegal business practices, in front of world leaders at the 2026 World Economic Forum (WEF) in Davos, Switzerland, Thursday local time.
In his remarks, President Prabowo revealed that at the beginning of his leadership, the government uncovered a corruption case of misuse of fuel management, resulting in the seizure of 4 million hectares of illegal oil palm plantations.
"It's amazing, I call this free enterprise, I call this not a free market, I call it openly: Greedonomics (the economy of greed). The economy of greed, the economy of greedy practices," said Prabowo in his remarks, which were watched live via the President's Secretariat's YouTube account from Jakarta, Thursday.
Prabowo also alluded to the term "robber barons" which was popular in a number of countries in the 19th century, but was considered the same as "greedonomics" in front of the invitees.
According to Prabowo, no investment climate is created without the certainty of fair law enforcement. The President reiterated that no one would come to invest in a country that does not obey the law.
Therefore, Prabowo is determined to ensure law enforcement is above personal interests, even corporations.
Prabowo continued that the entrepreneur who he called Rakut felt no need to recognize the sovereignty of the Indonesian government, even considering that he could buy government officials.
"I got reports from some of these people in their meetings saying, 'Oh, it's okay, there's no government official who can't be bought.' Okay, I challenge them to try to buy officials from my government. They will be surprised," said Prabowo.
Prabowo detailed that in addition to confiscating 4 million hectares of illegal palm oil plantations, the government had also closed 1,000 illegal mining locations.
When carrying out a working visit to the UK on Monday (19/1), Prabowo also held a limited meeting with the ministers of the Red and White Cabinet and decided to revoke the permits of 28 companies with a total land area of 1.01 million hectares for building plantations in protected forests.
Prabowo also revealed that his government would face corruption practices firmly and openly, and acknowledged that corruption was a disease suffered by Indonesia.
"Just like someone who faces a disease, we must dare to admit the disease we suffer from. We are determined to fight this corruption directly. It is challenging, not many people believe we can do it, but we have no choice, I have no choice. I have been inaugurated, I have been sworn to uphold the constitution and the rule of law," said Prabowo.