President Prabowo Asks Ministers To Reduce Foreign Visits

Screenshot - Indonesian President Prabowo Subianto during a speech after the inauguration in Jakarta, Sunday. (20/10/2024). (ANTARA/Youtube Presidential Secretariat/pri)

JAKARTA - President Prabowo Subianto asked the ministry to reduce travel abroad, including carrying out seminars and comparative studies.

"Because it happens that many ministers are present, I beg you not to take too many of your members to travel abroad. If you want to travel abroad, you can use your own money. So reduce the seminars, what else are work visits, comparative studies. What do you want to study? That's it," said Prabowo at the Arena Indonesia, Jakarta, Saturday afternoon.

Prabowo considered that the problems faced in Indonesia were generally quite clear, so they did not require excessive comparative studies.

However, he also admitted that the implementation of this appeal was not easy, especially for political party leaders.

Prabowo then shared his experience as General Chair of the Gerindra Party, where his members often asked for permission to travel abroad.

He said that several years ago there were five members of the Gerindra party DPRD in a region who asked him for permission to go for an appeal study abroad. In fact, at that time he had issued a policy so that his party members would reduce their overseas trips.

"I don't mention which area, basically the east side of Banyuwangi. The east side can be NTT, you can. Five members of the district DPRD came to my place. Sir, I beg you, sir, because you have given a ban to go abroad, sir. Apparently, these five people have just been elected as members of the district DPRD on the island," Prabowo said as quoted by Antara.

"But his face is pleading. This is imagine that district DPRD members from Gerindra are usually the heads of farmers. We have never been abroad, sir, have never seen abroad. I have said for a long time, yes, this is the last time. Leave them," he continued.

Prabowo also asked ministers and political party leaders to convince their subordinates to refrain from leaving the country and to focus more on overcoming the problems experienced by the people in the country.

"The problem is that now we have to focus our attention on overcoming the difficulties of the people, that's the problem. So I ask you to make sure we reduce all our subordinates abroad," he said.