Remarks of President of the Republic of Indonesia at the Inauguration of Services of Pegadaian Gold Bank and Bank Syariah Indonesia at The Gade Tower, Jakarta, Thursday, February 26th, 2025

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

Distinguished Coordinating Minister for Economic Affairs Airlangga Hartarto; Minister of State-Owned Enterprises as host of this event Erick Thohir; ministers of the Red and White Cabinet in attendance; the Commander of the Indonesian National Defense Forces (TNI); the Chief of National Police (Kapolri); Minister of Finance Sri Mulyani Indrawati; Minister of Trade Budi Santoso; Minister of Energy and Mineral Resources Bahlil Lahadalia; Minister of Investment and Downstreaming Rosan Perkasa Roeslani, who is also the Head of Danantara Indonesia; Minister of State Secretary Prasetyo Hadi; Cabinet Secretary Teddy Indra Wijaya.

Distinguished Governor of Bank Indonesia Perry Warjiyo; the Chairperson of the Financial Services Authority (OJK) Board of Commissioners Mahendra Siregar; the CEOs of state-owned Banks: the CEO of BNI, the CEO of BRI, the CEO of Bank Mandiri; the CEOs of other State-Owned Enterprises (SOEs); the CEO of Bank Syariah Indonesia Hery Gunardi; the CEO of PT Pegadaian Damar Setiawan, the Chairperson of Commission VI of the Indonesian House of Representatives (DPR RI) Anggia Ermarini; the Chair of Commission XI of the Indonesian House of Representatives (DPR RI) Mukhammad Misbakhun.

Distinguished ambassadors of friendly countries, representatives from the United Arab Emirates, Switzerland, Australia, the United Kingdom, Kuwait, Malaysia, Singapore, and other countries.

Distinguished Ladies and Gentlemen,

First and foremost, I would like to express my gratitude to the God Almighty , the Greatest God for the Muslims, Allah Subhanahu wa ta’ala, the Creator of the universe. Only to Him we pray and seek help. We are grateful for all the blessings He has bestowed upon us and our nation, for the health given to us so that we can gather in this room for this historic event: the inauguration of services provided by the Pegadaian Gold Bank and Bank Syariah Indonesia. This is the first time in the history of our beloved nation.

Ladies and Gentlemen,
This month, February 2025, is considered a historic month in the journey of our nation. The Government that I lead has implemented several strategic policies as efforts toward economic self-suffiency, in a bid to realize a secure, fair, prosperous, and strong Indonesia that stands on its own feet. First, on February 17, we launched a policy to strengthen the national economic resilience through mandatory storage of foreign exchange from natural resource within the country. Every entity receiving state assets and credit from state-owned banks is required to put their revenues, in state-owned banks. Those who receive credit from state-owned banks must deposit its money in state-owned banks. This practice has been implemented by many countries for a long time. With this measure, which takes effect on March 1, our export foreign exchange are estimated to increase by US$80 billion in 2025. Since the policy starts on March 1, within a year, the foreign exchange reserves will reach at least US$100 billion.

Second, on Monday, February 24, we proudly and gratefully launched an investment fund named Danantara Indonesia (Daya Anagata Nusantara)—Indonesia’s new sovereign wealth fund. “Daya” means energy and power; “Anagata” means the future; and “Nusantara” refers to our homeland. This fund, with total assets of more than US$900 billion, will allow us to accelerate our industrial development, particularly our downstream industrialization. This will increase the added value of our natural resources and production, multiplying it several times—by tens or even hundreds of times.

It turns out that we have abundant wealth and enormous potential. The resource management must be conducted in a smarter, more meticulous, more careful, and more transparent manner. Of course, new, innovative, and breakthrough initiatives will raise questions. But with good intentions, strong determination, learning from past experiences, and the willingness to establish a clean government that is corruption-free, we are confident and believe that our wealth will be safeguarded because our wealth belongs to our children and grandchildren.

Today, as we approach 80 years of independence, for the first time in the history of Indonesia, a country that is home to the sixth largest gold reserves in the world, will have a gold bank. I would like to thank all parties who have worked hard to make this possible. I understand that the preparation for the Gold Bank took quite some time. If I am not mistaken, over four years. I am the one to inaugurate it. Once again, I must express my gratitude to President Joko “Jokowi” Widodo. Note for the Cabinet Secretary: for the inauguration of programs that involve the previous administration, the previous president should also be invited.

Maybe tomorrow I will meet President Joko Widodo to apologize. I will apologize to him for he and his ministers were the ones who worked hard. I am still working with ministers from the previous administration. If the team is good, why we change it, right? A manager can be replaced, but if the players are good, you keep them as long as they are well-performed, right? If they’re not good, they can resign. But it seems like they’re still good, right? The manager can change, but if the players are still good, we continue working with them for the victory of our nation.

It seems like I have received many blessings. I haven’t even been in office for 200 days yet, but I have inaugurated numerous wonderful events. I want to thank the ministers and those who have worked, including the CEOs of state-owned enterprises.

Indonesia is a rich country. As mentioned earlier, our gold production has increased from 100 tons per year to 160 tons per year. And now, we’re improving the service ecosystem, and we hope this will accelerate savings and increase our gold reserves.

Ladies and Gentlemen,
I believe what I have shown earlier is something very proud. We hope that this will increase our Gross Domestic Product (GDP). If I’m not mistaken, it can add up to Rp245 trillion, create 1.8 million new jobs, expand foreign exchange, and help save the country’s foreign exchange because gold will be processed and stored from upstream to downstream in the country, and will not flow out of the country. It will also help improve monetary stability control through the gold liquidity mechanism to gold banks, as well as facilitate domestic gold transactions.

Once again, Ladies and Gentlemen,
I would like to thank everyone who has worked hard. My appreciation goes to the Coordinating Minister for Economic Affairs, Minister of State-Owned Enterprises, all the directors of the state-owned Banks, the directors of the state-owned pawn company Pegadaian, Bank Syariah Indonesia, and everyone who has worked hard so that today we have the ecosystem services of Pegadaian Gold Bank and Bank Syariah Indonesia, the first gold bank in our republic.

Thank you.

And, by saying Bismillahirrahmanirrahim, today, Wednesday, February 26, 2025, I, Prabowo Subianto, President of the Republic of Indonesia, hereby inaugurate the Services from Pegadaian Gold Bank and Bank Syariah Indonesia.

I thank you.

Wassalamu’alaikum warahmatullahi wabarakatuh.
May prosperity be upon us all,
Syalom,
Salve,
Om santi santi santi om,
Namo Buddhaya,
Greetings of Virtue.
Thank you.
Independence!

(EST/MUR)