Remarks of President of the Republic of Indonesia at the Groundbreaking of the Abadi Masela Liquefied Natural Gas National Strategic Project through Video Conference from the State Palace, Central Jakarta, July 16, 2026

Bismillahirrahmanirrahim.

Assalamu’alaikum warahmatullahi wabarakatuh,
Good afternoon,
May peace and prosperity be upon us all,
Syalom,
Salve,
Om swastiastu,
Namo Buddhaya,
Greetings of virtue.

Distinguished Minister of Energy and Mineral Resources Bahlil Lahadalia, as the organizer, along with the ranks of the Ministry;

Distinguished President and CEO of PT INPEX Masela, Mr. Takayuki Ueda; Minister of Agrarian Affairs and Spatial Planning Nusron Wahid; Minister of the National Development Planning Professor Rachmat Pambudy; Chief of Presidential Staff General (Ret.) Dudung Abdurachman; Governor of Maluku Hendrik Lewerissa, along with the ranks of the Regional Leadership Coordination Forum (Forkopimda) of Maluku province; the Military Regional Commander, the Regional Police Chief, and the Chief Prosecutor;

Distinguished Regent of Tanimbar Islands Ricky Jauwerissa, Regent of Southwest Maluku Benyamin Thomas Noach, Head of the Special Task Force for Upstream Oil and Gas Business Activities (SKK Migas) Djoko Siswanto; President Director of PT Pertamina Simon Aloysius Mantiri;

All distinguished ladies and gentlemen present at the Merdeka Palace: Minister of Foreign Affairs Sugiono, Minister of State Secretary Prasetyo Hadi, Cabinet Secretary Teddy Indra Wijaya, and Vice Minister of Energy and Mineral Resources Yuliot Tanjung;

Honourable religious and customary leaders;

Respected workers at the Abadi Masela LNG site whom I am proud of;

Distinguished guests, as well as colleagues from the press and media.

Ladies and gentlemen,

As faithful servants of God, let us never cease to offer our praise and gratitude to God Almighty, the Great God, the Lord of all creation, for all the grace, blessings, goodness, and peace that He has still bestowed upon us, as well as for the breath of life and health that remain with us, so that we may gather today in a historic and important moment in the nation’s development journey, namely the groundbreaking of the Abadi Masela Liquefied Natural Gas National Strategic Project in Tanimbar Islands regency, Maluku province.

With all due respect, I had initially intended to be there in person. Nevertheless, due to various prior commitments that I could not leave at my office, there is no other option for me to join this event through video conference. My apologies. Needless to say, I will treat this as a debt to the people of Maluku and its regencies. God willing, I will fulfil that obligation in the not-too-distant future.

Ladies and gentlemen,

The development of a nation is the hard work of a nation. It takes a very long journey and requires the unity of all elements of the nation. Therefore, the Abadi Masela National Strategic Project is truly an essential project. We have waited for this project for almost three decades. The people have waited for nearly thirty years. Alhamdulillah, today the project’s construction has begun, and this must not be delayed; it must be completed in the shortest possible time.

Ladies and gentlemen,

From the day one, we have understood and I have always pointed out that the independence of a nation is, first of all, to ensure the survival of that nation. In both the modern world and the world of the past, energy is one of the conditions for a nation to survive. Therefore, we realize, the Indonesian nation realizes, that we have been granted extraordinary blessings by the Almighty. One proof of this is that we have long understood that in our waters, here in Tanimbar, in Maluku, we have abundant energy reserves. We came to realize this 28 years ago. We must once again extend our highest appreciation to all parties that have made this project possible. We appreciate our friends from Japan who have invested here, from INPEX. We also thank our Malaysian brothers, PETRONAS, who are also involved here, and we are certainly proud that our sons and daughters, our national company, Pertamina, are here as well. We must all work hand in hand so that this project succeeds so it can begin production swiftly and generate results.

Ladies and gentlemen,

We are aware that the world today is full of uncertainty, full of conflict, tension, and even war is unfolding everywhere. We should be grateful that our region is at peace. We are grateful for the legacy of our nation’s founders that Indonesia truly has zero enemies. We, alhamdulillah, have now established good relations with all our neighbouring countries, and we are determined that this is our commitment. We befriend all our neighbouring countries, and we respect all countries around the globe, whether large or small, strong or not strong. This is our blessing and something we must value. With this attitude, we befriend all countries and are open to all partners; we want to work together in a mutually beneficial way. This is our stance.

Nevertheless, everyone must also understand that Indonesia is now mature. The leaders in Indonesia are not foolish, naive, or cowardly leaders. Indeed, there are those who always look down on Indonesia, underestimate us, and always mock Indonesia behind our backs. Perhaps because of Indonesia’s kindness and hospitality, we are considered weak. We are called a relaxed nation, lazy, and loves to sleep, whereas our people struggle hard day after day to seek a decent life. For their livelihood, those who sail out to sea to catch fish are risking their lives. Everywhere, our people work hard. But if the climate is so hot, then yes, the wisdom of our ancestors teaches us to avoid the heat when the sun is blazing. There are nations that do not see that our people wake up very early. Some go to the rice fields, some go to the farms, some look for water, some look for firewood, some hunt, and some go to sea in the dark, returning only in the dark as well.

So, ladies and gentlemen, today we are honored, we are proud. Alhamdulillah, after decades, this project is finally underway. We appreciate our friends from Japan. We are starting this project; we are seeking mutual benefit. The honor of the host is when the partner is happy. However, I also have a responsibility to our people. Many of our people are still living in hardship. Therefore, brothers and sisters, I, as the President of the Republic of Indonesia, I, as the one who has received a mandate from the Indonesian people, once again I affirm: carry out this project as well as possible on the basis of mutual benefit. The investors must profit. Once again, as a nation that has self-respect and honor, we are the ones who would be ashamed if our partners are not satisfied, if our partners suffer losses, if our partners are not happy.

On the other hand, we have a great responsibility to our people. We need this energy to carry out the transformation of the nation. We want to become a modern country; we want to become a nation like Japan, a productive nation that produces industrial products. We have all the resources for that, we also have the capacity, our children are no less intelligent. And I have already planned, and I have already seen real plans, we are determined to become an industrial country, a modern country, and we are determined that our people must live well and decent. We need money to provide the best healthcare services. We need money to pay teachers’ salaries so that our schools are also no less good than schools abroad. We need money to pay all our civil servants properly. We need money to build infrastructure that is important for modern life.

Thus, projects like this are very important. I greatly appreciate the start of this project. This project has a substantial amount of investment: 20.9 billion US dollars, almost 21 billion, and it will produce more than nine million tons of gas, condensate, and so on. This will greatly help the nation to carry out development. We must carry out downstream processing, and downstream processing requires energy. Our energy resources are very abundant; there are only two or three years of transition. And, coincidentally, Indonesia is quite resilient amid global turbulence as we have already anticipated it, we have taken steps so that Indonesia can be brought into a good condition.

Once again, I appreciate your determination and commitment. The Minister of Energy and Mineral Resources, along with all elements are truly aligned with our determination and philosophy that the economy, development, transformation, downstream processing, and industrialization must as quickly as possible to bring prosperity to as many Indonesian citizens as possible. The economy must be for the people, not the people for the economy. All of this belongs to our people; the responsibility is to ensure that the people feel the benefits, so the commitment earlier to prioritize local people, to help local entrepreneurs. If there are local entrepreneurs whose lack of competence, please help them, there should be affirmative actions. In the future, state-owned companies, be it Danantara or Pertamina, will provide technical assistance here. We want everyone to feel the impact of this program.

I also want to express special thanks and appreciation to the CEO of INPEX Masela, Mr. Takayuki Ueda. I am impressed that you can speak Bahasa Indonesia. I thank INPEX for appointing Mr. Takayuki Ueda since I note that not many CEOs of foreign companies are willing to learn Bahasa Indonesia. Thank you, Mr. Takayuki Ueda. I believe that with you leading this project, God willing, this project will succeed in bringing benefits to all of us.

Ladies and gentlemen,

That concludes my remarks. I am confident this project will later become a driving force for the progress of this country, especially Eastern Indonesia. This also strengthens Indonesia’s national energy self-sufficiency and also marks an important milestone for the welfare of the Indonesian people.

Thus, once again I would like to thank and express appreciation to you all, to the people of Tanimbar, the people of Maluku. I apologize that I have not been present in person. But for the Southwest Islands, I have already been to Moa Island twice. And I hope the people of Moa Island are now enjoying more access to clean water there.

Ladies and gentlemen,

Thus, and by saying bismillahirrahmanirrahim, this afternoon, Thursday, July 16, 2026, by the grace of the Almighty God, I, Prabowo Subianto, President of the Republic of Indonesia, hereby declare the groundbreaking of the Abadi Masela Liquefied Natural Gas National Strategic Project officially commenced.

Thank you.

Wassalamu’alaikum warahmatullahi wabarakatuh.

May peace and prosperity be upon us all.

Shalom,

Salve,

Om santi santi santi om.

Greetings of virtue.

Rahayu rahayu.

Thank you.

(GWH/MUR)