Remarks of President of the Republic of Indonesia during the Closing Ceremony of the 2026 Indonesian Science, Technology, and Industry Convention (KSTI), at the Jakarta International Convention Center, on Friday, June 28, 2026

Bismillahirrahmanirrahim.

Assalamu’alaikum warahmatullahi wabarakatuh,
Good morning,
Peace and prosperity be upon us,
Shalom,
Salve,
Ohm swastiastu,
Namo Buddhaya.

Ladies and gentlemen,
Thank you, Minister of Higher Education, for the report.

Ladies and gentlemen,
I’ve carefully monitored the proceedings of the forum until late last night, quite packed. And, generally speaking, I observed that the environment was positive, encouraging the exchange of information and perspectives. And indeed, it is my firm conviction and deepest hope that we must unite all the potential of our entire nation, that we must bring forth every idea and every initiative for our common good, for our survival, and for the enduring future of the Indonesian nation.

Ladies and gentlemen,
In the brief time we have been working, I, as the person entrusted with the mandate, as the one in charge of the Indonesian nation at this very moment, have been given the mandate to serve as its ship’s captain, they said. Allow me to say that I strive to always communicate the general situation we face as a nation, that our Earth, our planet, is becoming increasingly smaller due to advancements in science and technology. Today, events occurring tens of thousands of kilometers away affect our lives. We are not at odds with anyone. We are not hostile toward anyone. But should there be a nuclear war in one part of the world, we will suffer its consequences. That is why, from my perspective, meeting with those university rectors four times is not enough. If necessary, we should meet every month. Indeed, I need to talk to the brightest minds. I feel sorry for some of the professors living around Jakarta. They’re constantly being summoned back and forth, aren’t they? I heard they check their cell phones every two hours. Even those in Bandung city have no excuse because now there’s Whoosh. When summoned, they can be in Jakarta in 45 minutes, right? Regarding those in Bandung, I have noticed that some of my aides, when I was first inaugurated, had nice hair, but after 18 months, they are gradually going bald. I have noticed, Mr. Brian, that many of our professors share the same receding hairline.

So, ladies and gentlemen, this is our shared aspiration. We are all in the same big boat called the Unitary State of the Republic of Indonesia (NKRI). As I mentioned previously, we may differ in our perspectives, and that is perfectly fine. A university is a place where ideas are tested against one another, a battleground for ideas, perspectives, philosophies, and innovations. That is the very definition of academic freedom. Academic freedom and I mean academic freedom, not any other kind of freedom. After all, a university is a place for thoughts or, shall we say, for arguments. Let universities actively pursue science and technology to benefit the people who fund them, the people who fund all educational institutions. The private sector also plays a key role, but it, too, benefits from public funds, from electricity subsidies, fuel subsidies, and all the efforts we undertake. So, ladies and gentlemen, this is what being a nation is all about.

So, thank you all for your active participation in this forum, and I have received the list of suggestions and questions that were just presented. There are plenty of them. I promise to address each and every one of them.

Ladies and gentlemen,
Let alone suggestions from professors, even suggestions from children in villages that reach me directly via TikTok or other means, I follow up on them immediately, ladies and gentlemen. This is because I firmly believe that difficulties must be addressed. Difficulties must be dealt with, and we must have the courage to deal with them, the courage to acknowledge them, and work hard to find ways to resolve them. Earlier, I received a lot of suggestions from various organizations, communities, and the government. The ones that succeed are the communities, the government, and the organizations that are brave, brave enough to identify and seek out difficulties and shortcomings, and to solve them. So, I am grateful that technology makes this possible. A problem in one village in Nias was brought to my attention, and we resolved it immediately.

However, we also know that technology does not only have positive effects on humanity. On the one hand, nuclear energy can be incredibly helpful to humanity as it provides very cheap and relatively clean energy. Nuclear energy provides benefits in medicine and agriculture. On the other hand, nuclear energy could wipe out human civilization in an instant, ladies and gentlemen.

Now, when it comes to AI (artificial intelligence), almost every country is now pursuing AI, unwilling to be left behind. However, the very inventors of AI have already warned that AI could become a problem for humanity. Right now, there are, what are they called?, AI agents. They already exist. Rumor has it that these AI agents are designed to work and create for a single person, a group, a corporation, an organization, a country. Word on the street is that there are now five million AI agents. Five million! And that figure was maybe three weeks ago. And they are said to have, what is it called? their own chat rooms. These five million agents communicate among themselves in their own code language. So, humans have created something even more remarkable. Now, even chess grandmasters are losing to machines. Chess grandmasters. Machines can now produce extraordinary results. So, ladies and gentlemen, it is our esteemed professors and scholars who must delve deeply into this matter.”

So, ladies and gentlemen, I am very grateful. As I briefly skimmed through the suggestions earlier, I noticed many excellent and very reasonable suggestions, and we will follow up on them immediately. For example, the suggestion to allocate doctoral scholarships to lecturers, both at public and private universities, and so on. This is a very good suggestion, and we will certainly follow up on it.  Earlier, there was also a suggestion regarding research funding. It was suggested that every SOE allocate a portion of their profits to research and innovation. This is a good suggestion. The question is, do these SOEs actually have profits? Are they starting to make profits now? Thank you, Danantara. Which one is that? Alright, thank you. This past year, they have indeed begun showing a profit. The problem is that until recently, these SOEs, well, we all know this, don’t we? We have been Indonesians for a long time, you all understand. We are in the process of cleaning them up and getting them in order. Out of more than a thousand SOEs, we have already shut down over 200. Eventually, we will reduce them to just 300, alright? What do you think, Mr. Oskar Dony? How many SOEs will remain in the end? Will it be 250? You can imagine. We have shut down more than 750, meaning 750 CEOs, 750 board members times four or five, 750 commissioners times 10. What did the overhead look like? What about the salaries? Ladies and gentlemen, this is all the people’s money. The companies were not profitable. They were only paying for overhead.

Ladies and gentlemen,
We want to be rational and efficient now. And, we will prove it and make it happen. I am expecting it to be completed this year. So, within two years, we will make SOEs more efficient, more transparent, and more dedicated to serving the people.

Ladies and gentlemen,
So, there are so many suggestions that I find very encouraging. Earlier, there was also a suggestion from Bengkulu regarding the strategy for shifting from raw materials processing to creating finished products. I think this is exactly what we are aiming for. But we have to go through that process first. The first step involves processing the materials here in Indonesia, which requires a tremendous amount of effort. But, God willing, we will get there. Then there are other suggestions about cooperation with foreign institutions, involving universities in all fields and across all regions. I think this is the right direction, and we will all be heading in that direction eventually. There are so many of these suggestions and we will address them all in due course. I think this is it for now.

And, I have just received this note that reads, “Please be advised, Mr. President, that the members of the press will remain with us for the first five minutes.” With all due respect, I would like to invite the members of the press to enjoy some coffee outside. Are we good? Thank you.

As this is the closing session, it also marks the end of my remarks for this meeting. (FI/LW)