Prabowo and Queen Maxima Put Financial Health at the Center of Indonesia’s Inclusion Agenda
Poin Penting
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JAKARTA, Investortrust.id — President Prabowo Subianto and Queen Maxima of the Netherlands use a tightly choreographed visit to Merdeka Palace in Jakarta on Thursday, Nov 27, 2025 to anchor Indonesia’s economic transformation in financial inclusion and financial health. The working day links palace ceremonies, closed door meetings and policy commitments into a single narrative about how secure household finances can support long term national growth.
Queen Maxima, the United Nations Secretary General’s Special Advocate for Financial Health (UNSGSA), arrived in Indonesia on Monday, Nov 24, 2025 for a four day visit focused on inclusive finance and household resilience. Her programme in Jakarta placed the presidency at the center of that effort, while drawing in ministers, regulators and civil society voices who would later be crucial to turning commitments into policy.
The most visible chapter unfolded at Merdeka Palace on Thursday afternoon, when Queen Maxima reached the palace colonnade around midday escorted by a motorcade of police riders. President Prabowo greeted her personally at the entrance, setting a tone that mixed informal warmth with the full weight of a head of state hosting a royal advocate of inclusive finance.
Before any document or data point was discussed, the welcome ceremony underscored the cultural stakes of the visit. On the palace forecourt, Queen Maxima paused to watch the Indang dance, a traditional group performance from Pariaman in West Sumatra, as a line of dancers moved in tight rhythm to Minangkabau music. Her steps briefly slowed, her body leaned forward and she seemed to savour the moment, turning a formal arrival into a shared cultural gesture.
Side by side with President Prabowo, Queen Maxima then walked into the reception area accompanied by protocol music delivered by the Presidential Security Forces. As they progressed through the palace, Prabowo introduced the Indonesian delegation one by one, signalling that the financial inclusion agenda would be carried by a broad coalition of state and financial institutions.
Among those in the receiving line were Minister of Foreign Affairs Sugiono, Minister of State Secretary Prasetyo Hadi, Coordinating Minister for Economic Affairs Airlangga Hartarto, Minister of Tourism Widiyanti Putri Wardhana and Cabinet Secretary Teddy Indra Wijaya. The group also included Vice Minister of Home Affairs Ribka Haluk, Head of the Financial Services Authority’s executive board for market conduct, education and consumer protection Friderica Widyasari Dewi, Deputy Governor of Bank Indonesia Destry Damayanti and senior journalist Najwa Shihab, reflecting the mix of policy, regulation and public communication needed for inclusive finance.
After the greeting and cultural segment, President Prabowo and Queen Maxima moved into a more private setting for a tete a tete discussion. That conversation, followed by a wider bilateral meeting with the full delegation, framed financial inclusion not simply as access to accounts or products, but as a pathway to long term household stability and national resilience.
In his opening remarks, Prabowo set the tone by publicly recognising Queen Maxima’s long standing work as a global advocate for financial health. “Your Majesty Queen Maxima, once again I want to welcome you to Indonesia and express my deep appreciation for your visit here in your role as the United Nations Secretary General’s Special Advocate for financial health,” he said, making clear that Jakarta saw the visit as more than protocol.
The President stressed that Indonesia now needed a structured, national level approach to turn this shared vision into action, including the creation of a cross sector council that would report directly to the head of state. He underlined his own sense of urgency, telling his guest: “I believe this is something very real and we can move very fast.”
Queen Maxima responded by recognising what Indonesia had already achieved in broadening access to financial services, but gently shifted the discussion to outcomes rather than numbers alone. “I think now is the time to look at the reasons behind financial inclusion. We want people to have a better life today and tomorrow and not fall into trouble, so I think that is the essence of financial health,” she said, tying the agenda to everyday life for households, informal workers and small entrepreneurs.
Throughout the conversations at Merdeka Palace, Queen Maxima acknowledged that Indonesia had made major progress in building inclusive, often digital, financial infrastructure. At the same time, she pointed to the need to deepen implementation so that low income families, informal workers and micro, small and medium enterprises could feel the benefits in more stable cash flows, reduced vulnerability to shocks and better planning for education and retirement.
Later in the day, the focus shifted from palace meeting rooms to a press briefing led by Coordinating Minister for Economic Affairs Airlangga Hartarto, who had accompanied the President throughout the bilateral agenda. Standing before reporters at Merdeka Palace, Airlangga translated the high level discussion into concrete targets and institutional reforms that would shape Indonesia’s financial landscape over the coming years.
One of President Prabowo’s most striking commitments was to push 88.7 million households in Indonesia to open bank accounts as a basic entry point into the formal financial system. “The President also observed and listened and conveyed that the 88.7 million households across Indonesia are being encouraged to have an account, and this policy aims to make the delivery of assistance more effective and to increase financial inclusion,” Airlangga said, making clear that social protection and inclusion would now be tightly linked.
The government framed this acceleration in account ownership as both a social and an economic strategy. By channelling subsidies and assistance through formal accounts, Jakarta aimed to reduce leakages, strengthen targeting and create transaction histories that could eventually support credit, insurance and savings products for millions of families in remote and urban areas alike.
Airlangga also set out the headline numbers that had made Indonesia a positive case study in many global discussions on inclusive finance. “Financial inclusion in Indonesia has already reached 92.7 percent, but the level of literacy is still only 66.4 percent. Yet this literacy figure of 66.4 percent is already higher than the average of Organisation for Economic Co operation and Development countries for financial literacy, and Indonesia also reported that student savings accounts have reached 58 million,” he said, pointing to both progress and a clear to do list.
These figures suggested that while most Indonesians had some access to financial services, a substantial share still lacked the knowledge to choose products wisely, manage risk or avoid over indebtedness. For Queen Maxima, whose mandate revolved around financial health rather than access alone, that gap between inclusion and literacy remained central to the conversations in Jakarta.
In the same briefing, Airlangga revealed one of the visit’s most important institutional outcomes. President Prabowo, he said, had asked his team to prepare the creation of a National Financial Wellbeing Council or financial health council that would sit alongside the National Council for Financial Inclusion (DNKI), established in 2020.
“The President asked for a national council on financial wellbeing or financial health to be formed, and this is to complement or perfect the National Council for Financial Inclusion,” Airlangga explained. The new body was expected to bring together ministries, regulators and stakeholders to align policies on consumer protection, literacy, social protection and digital identity around a single vision of financial wellbeing.
To support that architecture, the government signalled that it would move towards more open and integrated data systems. “There is also a push for data to be available openly not only for banks but also for banking consumers, so this relates to knowledge, including the presence of digital ID and knowledge sharing related to deepening in the insurance sector as well,” Airlangga said, pointing to a future where digital identity and shared data standards could make services cheaper, safer and easier to use.
These plans fit squarely within Queen Maxima’s long running advocacy for responsible digital financial services, where open but well governed data and strong identification systems could reduce costs, expand access and protect consumers. In Jakarta, both sides emphasised that digital infrastructure would have to be matched by strong regulation, financial education and safeguards for vulnerable groups.
United Nations Secretary General’s Special Advocate for Financial Health Queen Maxima gives a special gift to Bobby, President Prabowo Subianto’s pet cat, at the State Palace in Jakarta on Thursday, Nov 27, 2025. Photo: Prabowo Media Team.
Beyond the formal statements, the palace programme also used symbolism to reinforce the relationship between Indonesia and the Netherlands and to root the financial health agenda in mutual respect. After the bilateral meetings, President Prabowo and Queen Maxima moved to the State Palace for a gift exchange that blended local craftsmanship, royal courtesy and a personal touch.
Prabowo presented three gifts to his guest: a flower vase from the northern coast of Java, a piece of Pekalongan batik and a miniature model of a traditional Tongkonan ancestral house from Sulawesi, which reflects the heritage of the Toraja people in South Sulawesi. Handing over the vase, he said with a smile, “A souvenir. This is a vase. It comes from the northern coast of Java.”
Queen Maxima responded with visible enthusiasm, especially when the silk batik cloth in shades of purple was unfolded in front of her. “The silk cloth, it is very beautiful. There are so many gifts,” she said, still taking in the variety of items presented by her host, to which Prabowo replied, “You do not come here every day.”
The President then explained the cultural meaning of the Tongkonan miniature, holding it up as a representation of Indonesia’s diverse social fabric. “This is from Sulawesi,” he noted, using the moment to tie a local symbol of home and kinship to a conversation about financial security for families.
In return, Queen Maxima offered a carefully chosen set of gifts that underlined her own interest in culture and community. The central item was the book “Between The Sea and The Sky” by photographer Jimmy Nelson, known globally for his work “Before They Pass Away,” which documents the lives of indigenous and remote communities. The book served as a reminder that inclusive development must reach people far from capital cities and formal financial centres.
She also brought a playful but pointed present for Bobby, President Prabowo’s pet cat, who has become a minor public figure in his own right. “This is for Bobby, the orange one, yes, a jersey,” Queen Maxima said, revealing a soft toy dressed in an orange jersey in the colour long associated with the Dutch royal family. Prabowo laughed and answered, “He is the most loyal one. Thank you.”
While images of the Indang dance and Bobby’s jersey dominated social media, officials stressed that the four day visit had a heavy policy agenda behind the warm optics. Queen Maxima’s programme in Indonesia included a string of meetings and dialogues with ministries, financial regulators, banks, fintech firms and representatives of micro, small and medium enterprises to test how inclusive products and safeguards were working on the ground.
She was expected to engage closely with the Financial Services Authority and Bank Indonesia on digital financial inclusion, consumer protection and financial health measurement, as well as to listen to experiences from civil society groups and business associations. These conversations were intended to feed into both Indonesia’s future strategy and global discussions led by the United Nations on how inclusive finance can support the Sustainable Development Goals.
For Jakarta, the visit offered a platform to show that Indonesia had moved from catching up on basic inclusion to shaping the next generation of financial health policies. The emphasis on digital identity, open data, household accounts, literacy and institutional reform suggested that the government wanted to lock financial inclusion into its broader agenda for social protection, productivity and long term growth.
For Queen Maxima, the two days in the presidential palaces in Jakarta were a chance to walk through the full arc of inclusive finance, from cultural welcome and citizens’ stories to hard numbers and institutional blueprints. By the time she left the capital, the message was clear: financial inclusion in Indonesia had become less about counting accounts and more about building resilient, dignified lives for the 88.7 million households the President now wanted inside the formal financial system.