Jakarta, 20 January 2026 — On Thursday afternoon, 15 January 2026, in the calm setting of The Ritz-Carlton Pacific Place, SCBD, South Jakarta, the Prasasti Luncheon Talk 2026 took place not merely as a discussion forum, but as a marker of the times. Its theme, “Fostering Indonesia’s Economic Growth Through Data-Driven Insights”, sounded technocratic. Yet its substance was deeply political: how Indonesia navigates growth in a world that is increasingly noisy, polarized, and inhospitable to developing countries hesitant to make decisions.
In his Opening Remarks entitled “Navigating the Economy Amid Global Uncertainty”, Burhanuddin Abdullah, Board of Advisors of Prasasti, laid out an unavoidable reality: 2026 is a year of crossroads.
Indonesia stands between opportunity and pressure. The demographic dividend remains available, stability has been achieved, and industrialization and downstreaming agendas have been launched. Yet global geopolitics remain agile and often unfriendly.
Nevertheless, the foundation remains intact. Economic growth around 5 percent offers room for optimism and hope that this figure can be pushed higher. But Burhanuddin warned that achieving higher growth requires more than strong intentions. Efficiency must be improved, and long-standing leakages of national wealth must be addressed.
At the same time, digitalization must continue to be optimized and implemented across economic sectors, as it has proven effective in improving ICOR scores—an indicator of investment efficiency and investor attractiveness. The lower the ICOR, the better.
To make improvements across these fronts, Burhanuddin said, the government must have the courage to dismantle long-standing problems that have been normalized—ranging from overlapping regulations to law enforcement in taxation to plug revenue leakages.
Labor, technology, and especially regulation, he explained, form the core problem nodes. Indonesia suffers from regulatory obesity. Around 67,000 regulations—from 1,800 laws to presidential and ministerial regulations—have choked legal certainty and left businesses gasping for air. Foreign investors have lost interest and chosen to build factories in neighboring countries with leaner, clearer regulatory regimes.
These points were reinforced by Gundy Cahyadi, Research Director of Prasasti. In just the past five to six months, Prasasti completed four major studies: digital economy research supporting Bappenas, administrative and presidential systems, studies in two special economic zones in Central Java that demonstrably created jobs, and research on Indonesia’s tax system.
What stood out was not the number of studies, but the attitude behind them. “We do not want research to remain merely research,” Gundy said. Data must work. It must enter the policy kitchen, become joint work with the government, rather than remain a neatly stored report on a shelf.
The technocratic tone then shifted into a more political, even polemical one during the dialogue session with Hashim Djojohadikusumo, Board of Advisors of Prasasti, titled “Priority Sectors and Policies as Challenges and Opportunities for Indonesia’s Growth in 2026.”
In a discussion moderated by Prasasti Executive Director Nila Marita, Hashim opened with a candid acknowledgment: the government has many achievements, but social media attacks are equally intense. Upon examination, he said, many of these attacks are not organic criticism, but planned programs driven by bots, avatars, and artificial intelligence to discredit the government.
He gave a concrete example: a page read by 5,000 people but commented on by 20,000 accounts—digital absurdity. Whatever Prabowo and Gibran do, he said, is always deemed wrong. Allegations that Prabowo controls palm oil land across Indonesia are, in his words, naked lies.
Quoting Joseph Goebbels, Adolf Hitler’s chief propagandist, Hashim said, “The longer and the bigger you lie, the more people will believe.” He emphasized that criticism must be accepted, but slander must be resisted.
He then outlined what he called real achievements. One was the realization of the Indonesian Hajj village in Mecca near the Grand Mosque—an idea dating back to the 1950s that only now became reality. With its foreign exchange reserves, Indonesia was able to acquire a location of extraordinary strategic significance for Muslims.
This success, Hashim said, resulted from direct lobbying by Prabowo Subianto with Saudi Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman. Prabowo’s diplomacy is often criticized, even for visiting three countries in one day. “What can you do (visiting three countries in one day)?” Hashim remarked rhetorically.
He placed the Free Nutritious Meals Program (MBG) in a long-term perspective. The idea was proposed by Prabowo in 2006, long before Gerindra existed, when research showed high stunting rates. Indonesia, he said, does not suffer from hunger but from malnutrition. If left unaddressed, future generations would become a burden rather than an asset.
The results are now measurable. As of last week, MBG beneficiaries reached 55 million people, plus 4 million pregnant women. Previously, around 50,000 babies were born annually with disabilities due to malnutrition.
The program, Hashim stressed, is non-coercive. Those who do not wish to participate are free not to. The target distribution of 82 million eggs—along with chicken and fruit—reaches villages and creates a significant economic multiplier effect.
He also highlighted the People’s School program for children from the poorest segments. Children of police chiefs, district military commanders, and sub-district commanders are not allowed to enroll. This, Hashim said, is a concrete effort to realize the fifth principle of Pancasila: Social Justice for All Indonesians—social justice in its most literal sense.
In housing, the government targets the construction of 3 million homes per year through cross-ministerial collaboration. The challenge is immense: around 27 million rural homes are uninhabitable, lacking electricity and clean water, conditions that directly contribute to stunting. Social housing, Hashim argued, requires serious financing instruments, including from Danantara.
This is because the sector is connected to 185 industrial value chains, from cement to light bulbs. He reminded the audience that China rose not in Mao’s era, but in Deng Xiaoping’s, with housing programs as one of the key drivers.
Another achievement he cited was food self-sufficiency achieved within one year through intensification. Fertilizer prices were cut by 20 percent while factories remained profitable. Why, he asked, was rice self-sufficiency so difficult to achieve for 40 years?
The answer, he said, is classic: bureaucracy—from governor signatures to village apparatus. Now, the president’s order is clear: fertilizer must reach farmers before planting season. This fact, Hashim said, cannot be refuted by bots or avatars.
In healthcare, dozens of hospitals have been built and free check-up services are available. Indonesia, he noted, ranks fourth globally in cyst prevalence due to poverty. Early detection is key, and that is only possible if access to healthcare is widely opened.
He concluded with fiscal issues. Indonesia’s tax ratio remains around 12 percent. If it could be pushed to 19 percent, state revenue could increase by an additional USD 90 billion per year, creating an economic surplus. Without raising tax rates, but through apparatus efficiency, policy discipline, and law enforcement, Hashim is optimistic that Indonesia’s economic growth could surpass 8 percent.
Ultimately, the Prasasti Luncheon Talk 2026 delivered one clear message: Indonesia’s growth future will not be determined by slogans, but by data, political courage, and the willingness to dismantle entrenched habits.
At this crossroads, the choice is ours—whether to move forward quickly with discipline, or to stumble amid political noise and slander that we choose to tolerate.