President Prabowo to Tycoons: "I Am Not Anti-Big Business"

JAKARTA, Investortrust.id — Indonesian President Prabowo Subianto moved decisively on Friday to quell corporate anxiety over his populist economic agenda, reassuring the country’s business elite that his administration views large conglomerates as vital national assets rather than targets for redistribution.

Addressing approximately 150 leaders from the Indonesian Chamber of Commerce and Industry (Kadin) at the State Palace in Jakarta, the president directly confronted rumors that his rural development programs signal a hostile turn against big enterprise. Speaking for more than an hour on July 31, 2026, the leader framed his vision of state-directed capitalism—dubbed "Indonesia Incorporated"—as a necessary strategy to insulate Southeast Asia’s largest economy from mounting global instability.

The high-stakes gathering, led by Kadin Chairman Anindya Novyan Bakrie, served as a crucial clearinghouse for private sector concerns regarding regulatory shifts, wealth concentration, and macroeconomic policy under the new administration.

The stakes could hardly be higher for foreign investors and domestic conglomerates navigating an increasingly fractured global trade landscape. By pairing defense of large corporate capital with an aggressive expansion of state-backed rural financial networks, Prabowo is attempting a delicate balancing act: preserving the private investment that drives national infrastructure and tax revenues while defusing the social tensions generated by extreme wealth concentration. How smoothly the administration executes this dual-track strategy will determine whether Indonesia can sustain its trajectory toward high-income status amid global supply chain realignments.

"I am not anti-big business," Prabowo told the assembled corporate leaders, adding that his primary concern was safeguarding their operations. "I actually want to secure them."

The president argued that enterprise conglomerates serve as irreplaceable engines for capital allocation, job creation, tax collection, and technological transfer. However, he cautioned that an economic structure where wealth remains concentrated within a tiny elite poses systemic risks to long-term political and economic stability. "One percent cannot dominate the nation's economy," Prabowo stressed, warning that extreme inequality historically invites social upheaval. "That is why I am building the lower-middle class in villages and cities through cooperatives."

To operationalize this strategy, the government is rolling out the Merah Putih Village and Urban Cooperatives program nationwide. Designed to complement rather than compete with corporate enterprise, these localized entities are structured to act as rural distribution hubs, agricultural processing centers, and micro-finance nodes. Prabowo asserted that strengthening household purchasing power at the grassroots level ultimately expands the domestic consumer market for large corporations, citing former U.S. President John F. Kennedy's famous warning that a free society unable to help the poor cannot save the wealthy few.

Entrepreneur Presidency

Corporate leaders responded enthusiastically to the administration's strategic framing. James Riady, Deputy General Chair of International Relations at Kadin Indonesia and Chairman of Lippo Group, characterized Prabowo’s governing style as an "entrepreneur presidency"—a model defined by strategic risk-taking, execution speed, and pragmatic problem-solving.

Speaking during the audience at the State Palace, Riady noted that few world leaders possess the fortitude to launch simultaneous structural reforms across food self-sufficiency, energy resilience, industrial downstreaming, healthcare education, and housing development. He pointed to the creation of Danantara—a newly established sovereign investment agency designed to consolidate state commercial assets—as a pivotal mechanism for aligning government and private enterprise under the Indonesia Incorporated model.

Riady also highlighted the administration's economic diplomacy, which has maintained price stability for subsidized electricity and domestic cooking gas despite global commodity shocks. He emphasized that Indonesia's non-aligned foreign policy and robust digital infrastructure along the Jakarta-Karawang corridor and Batam are attracting global technology investors in artificial intelligence and robotics, positioning the nation as a manufacturing and innovation anchor for Southeast Asia.

Food Security Takes Center Stage

Food security emerged as another central theme of the summit. Mulyadi Jayabaya, Kadin’s Deputy General Chair for Food Sectors, commended the government's Free Nutritious Meals initiative for school children in remote rural areas, alongside structural reforms in fertilizer distribution bureaucracy that have directly benefited smallholder farmers.

Prabowo confirmed that having achieved initial national targets in food self-sufficiency, the administration is now directing state resources toward total energy independence. Priority developments include accelerating the long-delayed Masela gas block and expanding exploration across the Natuna offshore reserves.

Addressing the broader international environment, the president urged business leaders to maintain strategic calm while navigating severe geopolitical headwinds, pointing to active conflicts in Eastern Europe, the Middle East, and localized border friction within Southeast Asia. Reaffirming Indonesia's traditional non-aligned diplomatic posture, Prabowo noted that the country’s neutral standing recently prompted South Korea to request Jakarta's assistance in facilitating diplomatic dialogue with North Korea.

"For a nation rich in resources, the law of nature is that wealth often invites envy," Prabowo said in closing. "Because of that, we must become stronger, more united, and smarter in managing the wealth we possess."