President Prabowo: Energy Self-Reliance Is Pillar of National Sovereignty

President Prabowo Subianto stressed that a nation’s sovereignty is determined by its ability to meet strategic needs independently, including energy.

The President made the statement at the launch of B50 Biodiesel, with theme “A Concrete Step toward National Energy Self-Reliance and Resilience,” at Rest Area KM 57, Karawang regency, West Java province on Thursday (07/09).

“The survival of a nation is determined, among others, by three things. First, whether the nation is able to produce its own food for its people. Second, whether the nation has its own energy sources and does not depend on other nations. Third, whether the nation has water resources,” the President said.

He went on to say that Indonesia had achieved food self-sufficiency faster than the target. He said this achievement was clear proof of the Government’s commitment to strengthening national food security.

“Alhamdulillah, we have proven that we are able to secure and produce food for our people. We have achieved food self-sufficiency. From a target of four years, we succeeded in one year,” the President said.

The President also emphasized that efforts to achieve food self-sufficiency and energy self-sufficiency have been a priority since the beginning of his administration. “Today I am proud to be here. Today is the day I have been waiting for. Since before I was inaugurated as President, I have always told my core team and advisory team that we must achieve food self-sufficiency, and we must achieve energy self-sufficiency,” he said.

Furthermore, the President highlighted Indonesia’s large energy resource potential, ranging from geothermal energy and coal to natural gas reserves which spread across various regions of the country. In addition, the Government continues to develop the use of compressed natural gas (CNG).

“Our CNG is very abundant, extremely abundant. In Central Java, CNG is already widely used and we will continue this, and CNG is available throughout Indonesia. New technology has also been found to produce gas from very deep coal underground that has not yet been utilized,” the President explained.

The President further emphasized that amid global challenges and uncertainty, the Government continues to accelerate steps toward national energy self-reliance. According to him, the implementation of the mandatory B50 biodiesel program is an important milestone because it can reduce Indonesia’s dependence on diesel imports.

“I encourage, I demand energy self-reliance from my team. B40 is not enough. At that time, I even pushed toward B100. But my ministers convinced me that with B50, we will no longer import diesel. So this is an extraordinary achievement,” he said.

The launch of B50 Biodiesel not only marks progress in national energy technology, but also symbolizes the Government’s commitment to building an increasingly independent, resilient, and sovereign Indonesia through the optimal use of natural resources for the greatest prosperity of the people. (BPMI) (EST/LW)