em>Amid geopolitical uncertainty, the task of Indonesia’s next government is to leverage the previous administration’s achievements and direct the nation on a path toward greater international recognition. The Jakarta Post’s Yerica Lai, Ina Parlina and Tama Salim sat down with seasoned Indonesia observer Adam Schwarz, CEO of Asia Group Advisors, to discuss president-elect Prabowo Subianto’s top priorities and how the country may position itself amid rising United States-China tensions. The following are excerpts from the interview.
Question: What will be Prabowo Subianto’s top three priorities once he assumes the presidency? Are we going to see his priorities deviate from those of President Joko “Jokowi” Widodo’s?
Answer: Pak Prabowo has laid out, both in his campaigns and since the election, quite a broad, ambitious policy agenda. In the main, I think these are, as has been described, a continuation as opposed to a break.
In terms of priorities across that agenda, it depends on how the new administration comes together. But I would say there are some clear focus areas he has pushed.
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Where there is clear continuation is the broadly described hilirisasi (downstreaming), getting domestic value added from Indonesia’s natural resources and the emphasis on mineral commodities [raised] under Pak Jokowi. That probably continues, and it will probably get broadened with agriculture, pushing toward lower import price vulnerability on food and agricultural goods.
