By: Sehan Ramadhan )*
President Prabowo Subianto’s administration is treading a new path for national development, oriented toward economic equality and job creation in rural areas. Through a combination of progressive fiscal policies, community cooperative programs, and strategic investments in the real sector, this administration emphasizes that national prosperity begins with self-sufficient villages and working people.
President Prabowo’s steps are not simply to continue existing development, but to restructure the national economy to make it more inclusive. His primary focus is on creating new, sustainable jobs, growing the people’s economy, and narrowing the gap between the wealthy and low-income groups.
Febrio Nathan Kacaribu, Director General of Economic and Fiscal Strategy at the Ministry of Finance, explained that the government prioritizes job creation in improving welfare. He stated that economic policy is aimed at increasing formal employment to stabilize people’s incomes. The government is targeting a significant increase in employment in the coming years.
According to Febrio, Indonesia is able to create around 3.7 million new jobs annually, but the majority are still informal. This presents a significant challenge for the government, ensuring the creation of more formal jobs, thereby improving public welfare and achieving greater economic equality. The government believes that by strengthening the formal sector, Indonesia can reduce social inequality, a long-standing challenge to national economic development.
This commitment is increasingly evident through various programs rolled out across ministries. One flagship program that has received widespread attention is the Red and White Village Cooperative (KMP). This program not only strengthens the local economy but also creates new jobs for rural communities. Cabinet Secretary Teddy Indra Wijaya explained that the government is targeting the establishment of 80,000 village cooperatives across Indonesia, which is projected to absorb around 400,000 new workers.
Teddy explained that strengthening the village economy through cooperatives symbolizes President Prabowo’s grand vision for development. Each cooperative will serve as a hub for community economic activity, managing the distribution of basic necessities, providing access to microfinance, and even serving as a platform for processing agricultural products. With this mutual cooperation economic model, money circulates within villages, not just in large urban centers.
In addition to cooperatives, the agricultural and maritime sectors also contribute significantly to job creation. The replanting program on 870,000 hectares of smallholder plantations, for example, is projected to create around 1.6 million jobs in the next two years. The Red and White Fishermen’s Village (KNMP) program is also being implemented in 100 villages and will be expanded to 4,000 locations in the future, potentially absorbing up to 200,000 workers.
Another step is the Pantura Fishpond Revitalization Program, which targets 20,000 hectares of new fishpond land with the potential to employ 132,000 workers. Simultaneously, the modernization of 1,000 fishing vessels is projected to create nearly 600,000 new jobs in the maritime sector. All of this demonstrates a development pattern that is no longer city-centric but instead revitalizes the economic potential of villages and coastal areas.
From a macroeconomic perspective, this policy reflects a strong equity strategy. The government strives to balance large-scale infrastructure development with strengthening the rural economy. In this way, development not only generates statistical economic growth but also provides direct benefits to the community.
From a fiscal perspective, this policy is also supported by optimizing village budgets, financing cooperatives, and revolving funds from institutions such as the Revolving Fund Management Institute (LPDB) and state-owned banks. This inclusive fiscal approach encourages investment in villages, the creation of new businesses, and strengthens economic resilience amidst global pressures.
In a social context, President Prabowo’s development direction demonstrates a commitment to the common people. By stimulating the village economy through cooperatives and labor-intensive programs, the government not only creates jobs but also fosters a sense of ownership and economic solidarity at the local level. Villages are no longer viewed as a burden on development but as the primary drivers of national economic growth.
Challenges certainly remain, ranging from strengthening human resource capacity, professional cooperative governance, and ensuring greater transparency in the use of public funds. However, the policy’s direction is clear: upholding social justice through economic equality and community independence.
This policy also marks a major paradigm shift in Indonesian development, from a top-down to a bottom-up approach. Prabowo wants to ensure that every development project, no matter how small, has a direct impact on improving the people’s well-being.
With cross-ministerial synergy, strong fiscal support, and a spirit of community cooperation, the Prabowo-Gibran administration appears serious about realizing a just and sustainable economy. This new path to economic equality begins at the most fundamental level: villages.
From there, the vision of a sovereign, just, and prosperous Advanced Indonesia began to be realized.
)* The author is a socio-economic observer