Remarks of President of the Republic of Indonesia on the Inauguration of Integrated Energy Infrastructure of Pertamina Refinery Development Master Plan, in Balikpapan City, East Kalimantan Province, on Monday, January 12, 2026

Bismillahirrahmanirrahim.

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

Distinguished Minister of Energy and Mineral Resources Bahlil Lahadalia, President Director of PT Pertamina Simon Aloysius Mantiri and all directors of PT Pertamina, President Commissioner of PT Pertamina Mochamad Iriawan and all commissioners in attendance,

Distinguished Head of the Audit Board of the Republic of Indonesia Isma Yatun,

Distinguished Head of Commissions of the House of Representatives of the Republic of Indonesia: Head of Commission VI Anggia Erma Rini and all members of Commission VI in attendance, Head of Commission XII Bambang Patijaya and all members of Commission XII in attendance.

Ministers and Vice Ministers of the Red and White Cabinet in attendance: Coordinating Minister for Infrastructure and Regional Development Agus Harimurti Yudhoyono, Minister of Foreign Affairs Sugiono, Minister of State Secretary Prasetyo Hadi, Commander of the Indonesian National Defense Forces (TNI) General Agus Subiyanto, Chief of the Indonesian National Police General Listyo Sigit Prabowo, Head of the Development Control and Special Investigation Agency Aris Marsudiyanto, Cabinet Secretary Lieutenant Colonel Teddy Indra Wijaya, Head of the Government Communication Agency Angga Raka Prabowo, Vice Minister of Investment and Downstreaming Todotua Pasaribu.

Distinguished Governor of East Kalimantan Rudy Mas’ud and East Kalimantan Regional Leadership Coordination Forum (Forkopimda). I see here the Military Area Commander, Regional Police Chief together with the personnel, Head of the Prosecutor’s Office, and members of Forkopimda. Mayor of Balikpapan; earlier Mr. Rudy is the Governor, while Mr. Rahmad is a Mayor. Are you brothers? Siblings? You are siblings. It’s ok, as long as the election was fair. Is the Vice Governor present? Vice Governor? He is a member of Gerindra Party. Also present here members of Golkar Party. Friends, we are friends.

Also attending this event the Sultan of Kutai Kartanegara Ing Martadipura Sultan Aji Muhammad Arifin. Is he here? Your Majesty. Why a Sultan sit at the back? Should be in the front.

Distinguished community figures, religious figures, and all invitees as well as the press.

Ladies and Gentlemen,

Let us express our praise and gratitude to God the Almighty, the owner of the universe. To Him alone we pray, and to Him alone we turn for help. We are grateful for all the blessings, kindness, and peace He has bestowed upon us, for the health given to us so we can gather this afternoon to hold a historic event, that is the Inauguration of Integrated Energy Infrastructure of Pertamina Refinery Development Master Plan (RDMP) in Balikpapan. As has been mentioned earlier, a similar event had been held in 1994, 32 years ago. It was historic. I am certainly happy and proud of what we have achieved today with this inauguration. I would like to thank all elements, all parties, all personnel who have worked hard so we can succeed: the engineers, workers, security officers, regional governments, management officers, residents of Balikpapan and East Kalimantan. This is a very important achievement for the country and the state.

We understand that modern civilization depends on essential matters for building an independent country. First, an independent country must of course be able to produce its food. It is a foundational element. It is absurd if an independent country depends on others to provide food.

Second, beside food, we must also be able to produce our energy. And, alhamdulillah, God gives Indonesia incredible blessings. We have ample sources of energy. Our coal reserves are among the biggest in the world. We are also able to produce energy from plants; from oil palm we can produce diesel fuel and biodiesel. From coal, we can produce gas, gasoline, and other energy products. We can produce dimetilasetamida (DMA) that can substitute our import of LPG. We also have the biggest geothermal potential in the world that has not been maximally used. Likewise, we also have hydropower potential, and also, Ladies and Gentlemen, in the future we will develop electrified solar panels so we can produce our own energy, do not need to import. This is our goal. Hopefully, we can achieve it in five years, but it is fine if it takes more than five years; it could be in the sixth year, seventh year. What’s important is we are going toward this direction. But, it is expected that with hard work we can achieve the result faster.

For example, when I assumed national leadership after I received mandate from the people, then I was inaugurated on 20 October. Afterward, I set target to my team to achieve rice self-sufficiency in four years. It turns out we manage to achieve it in one year. No one predicts it. This is the result of our team’s hard work, of the synergy of my cabinet. Ministries/institutions work hand in hand, all of them. We streamlined unreasonable regulations.

Previously, fertilizers were hard to find, farmers were complaining. Fertilizers factory are state-owned. Fertilizers receive subsidy, but it is hard for famers to find them. There were 145 regulations at that time, 145 regulations. There were 11 ministries/institutions that must give approval and governors and regents must also give their signatures. So, from the factories down to the farmers maybe it needs 13 signatures. Imagine. We eliminated all of them. We eliminated 145 regulations, and now it does not need 13 signatures. Only one signature, one instruction, then the fertilizers were received by farmers. They do not need other requirements, only an identity card and validation from heads of villages that the farmers are indeed residents. And, finally we succeeded. For the first time in our history, we succeeded to lower the price of fertilizers by 20 percent. Actually, according to Minister of Agriculture the figure could be lowered to 25 percent. However, I told him to let the factories get 5 percent profit, so we only need to lower the price to 20 percent. The farmers are grateful. In fact, although we reduce the price, the volume of fertilizers increases by 700 thousand tons. So now, fertilizers are available for the farmers with affordable price.

Now, we talk about rice. The income of rice farmers now increases. Farmers’ exchange rate increases from 106 to 125, the highest in the history of the Republic of Indonesia. Our reserves are also the highest, our rice production is also the highest in the history of the Republic of Indonesia. I think we must acknowledge the achievement and work of our economic team, our agriculture team. It makes us proud. However, we are not big headed. It’s just something that we must do. We must be a confident country. We must be proud of our achievement. We must not feel inferior. A country that always feels defeated, not able to compete with other countries. We should not feel this way. In every field of life, we must be a strong country, a self-confident country, a country that is able to stand on its own feet.

Thus, I am happy and proud. Today, we take another step in the energy sector so that we will be self-sufficient, able to stand on our own feet. Our energy provision must not rely on other countries. We want to be self-sufficient and we are capable. We have all, God bestows us. It’s up to us whether or not we can make it.

We must acknowledge our problems, don’t hide them. Pertamina is actually our national champion. Pertamina maybe the only Indonesian company to be listed in Fortune (Global) 500. The only Indonesian company with a market value of US$100 and it should generate more for the country and the nation. Furthermore, we must admit that in the last few years people felt that fraudulent practices take place in Pertamina and the management of our energy and mineral resources. There are some people, I don’t understand, Indonesian people are clever —they are clever but greedy— who want to import. Through import, he manipulates the price and solicit money, so some people are rich while others suffer.

Therefore, when I was officially inaugurated as President, I was determined to make Pertamina clean. I appointed Simon Aloysius and several young people and I gave them orders. Do not corrupt, do not seek to be wealthy. President Director of Pertamina is a strategic position. You are responsible for a company worth US$100 billion. There will be many temptations, but you and your ranks must be reliable and I give you a full authority. You can terminate anyone with poor performance. Do not hesitate. For the sake of the country and the nation, you must be firm. There are many potential young people, look for them.

Ladies and Gentlemen,

This is our collective determination. I urge you all: Let us create a clean government, trustworthy management, to well manage the nation’s resources, Ladies and Gentlemen. We are ashamed of other nations, and especially ashamed of our people. Markup practices are fraudulent. Markup is a fraud and theft, stealing in broad daylight. And now, technology exists, so markup is quickly discovered. If any officials want to carry out old practices, I think it’s very wrong. We are concerned; I don’t know how many Pertamina directors have been imprisoned, I don’t know. Because the state and the nation need and demand the best management. Manage it well.

I was very impressed earlier when the President Director used the term “Pertamina Wira Perwira”. This is extraordinary. I think it has that spirit. It should have that spirit. Nations that rise, strong nations.

We must emulate Japan and Korea. Nations that don’t have the same resources as us, but are strong. Their nationalism is strong. If I’m not mistaken, all companies in Korea and Japan have a moment to stand at attention and the national anthem is sung. This nationalist spirit, this patriotic love for the country, must drive all ranks of Pertamina, especially the top management. Because, we understand human nature, it’s the leaders who determine the outcome. So, leaders must be leading by example, ing ngarso sung tulodo. If the leader is a thief, their subordinates will not be motivated.

My experience in the military is that if a leader is a thief, their subordinates will know quickly, very quickly. Outsiders might not know, perhaps the Supreme Audit Agency (BPK) can be fooled, or the Corruption Eradication Commission (KPK), but their subordinates will know. In the military, if the commanders are thieves, or the leaders are thieves, they are given the nickname “dredgers,” and they will carry that name for the rest of their lives. Leaders must set an example. I thank you for that encouragement. “Wira”, that’s right. “Warriors, knights, warriors.”

Ladies and Gentlemen,

The war of independence had several phases. The first war of independence was, of course, hundreds of years ago. The war of independence, in which we successfully seized sovereignty in 1945. After that, it was the war of independence, or the war to defend our independence. Then, the war to fulfil, to fulfil our independence. And, to fulfil our independence, we must manage our resources and sources of wealth. So, every element given the task and responsibility of managing the nation’s wealth must carry out that mission with a full sense of responsibility, with love for the homeland, with patriotism, and with exemplary behavior. Knights, defenders of the homeland.

We have too much experience; I can simply say that the directors of SOEs are not good. I have tasked the CEO of Danantara and several responsible ministers with cleaning up all SOEs. There are so many SOEs. Many are losing money, already losing money, and asking for more bonuses. Shameless. I think it’s just a matter of being lazy. If you don’t want to, if you can’t serve with the available income, just quit. Ask to quit immediately. Many are ready to replace you. I believe many are ready to replace you.

I think the most important thing is that we are moving towards energy self-sufficiency, we are capable. So far, I think there’s been no will. Many in management positions, in critical positions, have lied to their superiors, deceived their superiors, and deceived the president for personal gain. This must stop now. We must truly safeguard the nation’s wealth, because we need it to strengthen our nation, eradicate poverty, eradicate hunger, pursue industry, and pursue technology to face the years to come.

Ladies and Gentlemen,

Global competition is now very fierce. If we are not strong but rich, our wealth could be seized. Therefore, we must work hard. Our downstreaming program requires funding. But I am optimistic that with good management, we will be able to achieve our downstreaming goals.

This year, I received a report that we will begin 34 waste-to-energy projects, which involve converting and cleaning waste into electricity. This is crucial because we need to clean up our cities now. The waste has accumulated enormously. This is already a disaster. We have not been able to implement a good waste project for decades. We will now launch 34 projects. The tenders will likely open today, but it will take two years to become operational.

We will also launch in the next few weeks at least six downstream projects, possibly up to 11. The total value is approximately US$6 billion, and we will also receive substantial foreign investment. I estimate the investment will be quite substantial. For this, we must truly prepare our staff, prepare our management, and prepare young managers who can oversee and manage these projects. In total, we need to achieve a large industrialization. In total, we need probably 10 to 15-20 years to achieve a proper industrialization. That is the plan, but we want to accelerate it. I am very optimistic that this can happen. I am someone who doesn’t like making too many promises, so I might be accused of being unforthcoming. But now I have proven it.

Many said that the Free Nutritious Meal (MBG) program is impossible to succeed. Some figures said it is impossible to succeed, it would definitely fail. But it turns out today we have reached 58 million beneficiaries, 58 million. If Singapore has a population of six million, how many are we feeding? Nine? Nine Singaporeans, we feed nine Singaporeans every day. Not bad, huh? Not bad, huh? A country that’s always considered incapable, we can feed 58 million people every day, including pregnant women with meals delivered to their homes, including the elderly with meals delivered to their homes. Not bad, Ladies and Gentlemen. And, God willing, and I am confident, by the end of 2026, in December 2026, we will reach 82 million beneficiaries.

Other countries, like Brazil, achieved 41 million in 11 years. We achieved 58 million in one year, which is considered impossible from a management standpoint. This is now being discussed everywhere. We are becoming a case study on how we can achieve this.

Similarly, regarding food self-sufficiency and nutritious meals, many people are asking, “What’s the point of the Red and White Cooperatives?” We will prove it by the end of December 2026, there will be at least 40,000 cooperatives operating and running. The economy will then move from the bottom up. Its growth will make us all proud.

Ladies and Gentlemen,

That concludes my remarks. Congratulations. Thank you, Pertamina. Thank you, [Ministry] of Energy and Mineral Resources. Continue this work. I entrust it to you. Produce a great Pertamina, an efficient Pertamina, a Pertamina that becomes a national champion, the pride of the entire nation. Pertamina must return to being an agent of development, an agent of modernization.

In the beginning, Pertamina was led by Mr. Ibnu Sutowo as an agent of change, development, and modernization. Pertamina once had an advanced technology division, started by Pertamina. This advanced technology was led by an engineer who returned from Germany, his name was B.J. Habibie. This Pertamina’s division eventually became BPPT (Agency for the Assessment and Application of Technology). Eventually, it changed name to Nurtanio, IPTN (Indonesian Aircraft Industry), PTDI (PT Dirgantara Indonesia), state-owned ship builder PT PAL, and so on.

Pertamina, an agent of change, an agent of development, an agent of modernization. The leader of Pertamina, Mr. Ibnu Sutowo, initiated a food estate project, which began in South Sumatra. But, yes, as the Minister of Energy and Mineral Resources said, there are always, in my opinion, unpatriotic parties within us. But perhaps I do not understand, have they been bought by other nations? Ultimately, they try to thwart our own capabilities, our own achievements. We are made dependent on rice import, salt import, fish import… A country, three-quarters of its territory is sea, imports fish. It’s an irony, right?

I have also been told by experts that our oil reserves are vast, our gas reserves are vast. We just have to manage and pursue them. I ask that the Ministry of Energy and Mineral Resources immediately expand exploration and immediately facilitate those who want to explore. Don’t request for money.

Continue to maintain the people’s trust. Continue this achievement. May we all be blessed by God the Almighty. Thank you.

Wassalamu’alaikum warahmatullahi wabarakatuh,

Shalom,
Salve,
Om santi santi om,
Namo Buddhaya,
Greetings of Virtue,
Rahayu rahayu.

Thank you.

(MMB/MUR)