Prabowo touts Indonesia’s economic growth and investment gains in State of the Nation address

Indonesian President Prabowo Subianto addressed the nation's State of the Union on Friday, highlighting the country's robust economic growth and investment gains. Speaking ahead of Indonesia's Independence Day celebrations, Prabowo claimed that the Southeast Asian nation's largest economy had experienced its strongest first-half growth in over a decade, with a 5.61% increase in the first quarter and 5.45% in the first half of the year.

In his fiery televised speech, Prabowo emphasized that these impressive growth figures were not merely achievements to be celebrated, but rather a catalyst for improving the lives of ordinary Indonesians. He stated that the economy's success should be measured by whether it benefits the majority of the population, rather than serving as an end in itself. "For me, growth and investment are not the final goal. Our goal is the welfare of our people," Prabowo affirmed.

Despite global economic uncertainty, Prabowo maintained that investment remained strong, reaching 1,931 trillion rupiah ($108 billion) in the previous year and creating more than 2.7 million jobs. In the first half of this year, investment totaled 1,010 trillion rupiah ($56.7 billion) and generated over 1.4 million additional jobs. The Indonesian leader stressed that the country aims to achieve 6% growth by the end of the year, provided that the right policies are implemented and guided by common sense.