Remarks of President of the Republic of Indonesia at the Opening of the National Coordination Meeting of the National Zakat Management Agency (NZMA), at the State Palace, Nusantara Capital, East Kalimantan Province, September 25, 2024

Assalamu’alaikum wa rahmatullahi wa barakatuh.

Bismillahirrahmanirrahim,

Alhamdulillahirabbil ‘alamin, washalatu wasalamu ‘ala asrafil ambiya’i wal mursalin, sayyidina wa habibina wa syafiina wa maulana Muhammadin, wa ‘ala alihi washahbihi ajma’in. Amma ba’du.

[Islamic prayers usually recited to open a general meeting]

Distinguished Minister of Transportation, Minister of Tourism, Deputy Minister of Religious Affairs, Head of Nusantara Capital Authority;

Distinguished Chairperson of the National Zakat Management Agency (NZMA) Prof. Dr. KH. Noor Achmad, MA, along with leaders of the NZMA in all provinces, cities, and regencies throughout Indonesia;

Distinguished Ladies and Gentlemen.

Since I entered this room, I see all your faces bright and everybody looks very happy, very excited.

Yes, this is Nusantara Capital. I often received guests such as prime ministers, presidents from other countries, and it made me uneasy when, upon entering the State Palace in Jakarta, they would say, “President Jokowi, this palace is beautiful.” What should I say? “Yes, it is beautiful,” but I didn’t dare to add, “but this was built by the colonials”.

The state palaces in Jakarta, Bogor, Yogyakarta, are all Dutch colonial buildings, legacies from the colonial era. Sometimes, this can make us feel a sense of inferiority, thinking, “These palaces serve as state symbols but they were built by the colonials”.

So it’s true, Bung Karno (Indonesia’s first president) in the 1960s had initiated the relocation of the capital city. Pak Harto (Indonesia’s second president) also initiated the relocation of the capital city. As for me, I only executed their idea. So their idea was an old one, suggested a long time ago. Then we checked it again at that time. After being inaugurated in 2014, I ordered Head of the National Development Planning Agency (Bappenas) to look again at the ideas regarding the new capital city since Bung Karno’s time. Let’s try to check why in the past, Bung Karno decided to choose Palangkaraya as Indonesia’s new capital.

After conducting several studies, three candidates were selected for Indonesia’s new capital. The first was Palangkaraya, the second was in South Kalimantan, and the third was in East Kalimantan, with an additional option in Sulawesi, namely Mamuju. I personally inspected the locations in more detail—once, twice, three times—and after careful consideration, I said bismillah (in the name of Allah) and decided on Penajam Paser Utara, East Kalimantan.

That was not an easy decision, but that’s what we have decided. We also asked permission from the House of Representatives. I stated it verbally in the Plenary Meeting of the House of Representatives on August 16, then followed it up with the submission of the draft law concerning Nusantara Capital which was then approved by 93 percent of the factions in the House of Representatives. So, the decision on the new capital is not only a presidential one, but also a decision of all Indonesian people represented by all members of the House of Representatives in Jakarta. This was done to avoid any misperception that the new capital is President Jokowi’s project. No. It has gone through many stages which are essential for us in serving our nation and our country.

Our move to Nusantara Capital is also, once again, as I have said it many times, not only intended to move us, the palace, or the ministry buildings physically. That’s not it. But we want to build milestones of our civilization as a nation and a country since our independence, in the medium and long terms.

I need to emphasize that our move here must be followed by a change in our mindset, our way of working, and our work spirit, with a system that has been built from the beginning. As the buildings were also built with planning from scratch, we should be able to build the system well, from scratch. This means that later when the civil servants work here, the system is ready. In the global competition between countries today, quickly-adapting countries will beat slow-adapting ones. The issue now is not that big countries will beat small countries or developed countries will beat developing countries, but quickly-adapting countries will beat slow-adapting ones. And, we want to be a quickly-adapting country.

I am happy to see that the NZMA has succeeded in digitalizing everything in the events it held at the State Palace several times. We need speed like that in running our beloved country’s government. And, for the last few years the NZMA has always organized a big event called the Love Zakat Movement at the State Palace in Jakarta every year.

And today the NZMA is organizing a big event, namely the NZMA Coordination Meeting, not at the State Palace in Jakarta but at the State Palace in Nusantara. The event will take place in Balikpapan, but the opening is staged here at Nusantara Capital. I know that actually the event is expected to be organized at Nusantara because everyone wants to know and is curious about Nusantara as the news about it circulates widely every day via TV, YouTube, Instagram, and so on.

During the coordination meeting with the Indonesian National Defense Forces and the Indonesian National Police, as many as 800 participants shared the same opinion. The event was actually scheduled to take place in Jakarta but they said, “Please Sir, let’s move the event to Nusantara”. I answered, “No. I said, let’s hold it in Jakarta”. “No, Sir. The Military District Commander, the Regency Police Chief, the Military Resort Commander, the Military Region Commander, the Provincial Police Chief all want the event to be held at Nusantara”. Okay, I gave up, because many people really wanted to see the State Palace in Nusantara.

Once again, welcome to Nusantara Capital. Has anyone taken photos [in the front of the palace] yet? OK, later after this we will take group photos, but if you want to take a good photo, take it at the National Axis because you can see everything from there. So, from here we will move to the National Axis. I know this will be a souvenir you can take home, that’s it.

And, since the launch of the Love Zakat Movement in 2021, zakat and voluntary alms in Indonesia have increased at an average of approximately 30 percent per year, as previously stated by the Chairperson [of the NZMA]. This is a substantial growth rate. I sincerely appreciate all the NZMA staff for their hard work in ensuring that this growth continues steadily.

And, as a country with the largest Muslim population in the world, currently reaching a very large number of 236 million, our zakat potential is certainly still enormous for us to explore and manage well.

Therefore, I hope that the NZMA can make breakthroughs in the future, especially through education to the community, most importantly to increase public trust and to build good and professional governance. If the people put trust on the NZMA, they will entrust all their zakat to the NZMA. That is our goal. If people trust you, it’s good, everything will be OK. People will entrust all their alms like zakat, infaq, or sedekah (voluntary alms) to the NZMA. That’s what we want, because the potential of zakat is – how much was it according to the last calculation, Mr. Prof.? – around Rp300 trillion, a very large amount. And, according to the last international survey, Indonesia is the most generous country in the world, ranking first. That’s extraordinary. Alhamdulillah (thank God).

In what way should we build trust, build professional and transparent governance? By accelerating the digitalization of services as I have observed several times at the State Palace. This approach simplifies process and ensures that zakat reaches more mustahik (zakat beneficiaries) and muzakki (zakat donors).

We must build innovative work system and culture, which are responsive, not monotonous, not business as usual. That’s the spirit that I want you to bring home when you return from Nusantara Capital. We must not focus only on building physical infrastructure but we also have to build our work culture and our mindset.

In addition, I also remind you, as Mr. Chairperson has told us a lot, to develop zakat programs that strengthen the people’s economy, especially micro and small businesses, and empower women and the disabled. Therefore, the zakat programs can have a growing impact on society and can cumulatively enhance the welfare of our people, reduce poverty and narrow existing inequalities.

That concludes my remarks on this auspicious occasion. And by saying bismillahirrahmanirrahim, I hereby declare that the National Coordination Meeting of the National Zakat Management Agency (NZMA) in 2024 is officially opened.

I thank you.

Wassalamu’alaikum wa rahmatullahi wa barakatuh.

(TM/EP)