I. Upholding the Bandung Spirit and Safeguarding National Strategic Autonomy
At the 18th BRICS Summit held in New Delhi, Indonesian President Prabowo Subianto articulated a clear national development stance. He continued to champion the Bandung Spirit, uphold strategic autonomy and reject external power intervention and manipulation, offering critical guidance for the international community to understand Indonesia’s development philosophy in the new era and seize opportunities for China-Indonesia cooperation.
During the summit, Prabowo revisited the core essence of the 1955 Asian-African Conference. He noted that a host of newly independent nations back then secured equal voice and development rights on the global stage through solidarity and collaboration. This valuable experience still serves as a key underpinning for the development of the Global South to this day. He stressed that a nation’s true core strength is rooted in its people. Food security, energy security, national education and people’s wellbeing constitute the fundamental cornerstones for Indonesia to build an independent and powerful nation.
Externally, Indonesia has explicitly abandoned the development model of relying on major powers. It firmly refuses to accept direction and interference from individual powerful states, and stays committed to consolidating its own development foundation and safeguarding regional peace and stability. Meanwhile, Indonesia actively leverages the BRICS cooperation platform. It advocates enhanced coordination among countries in the energy sector, promotes connectivity of regional energy systems, strengthens regional risk resilience, and reinforces the robustness of economic development through industrial cooperation.
II. Advocating Multilateral Reform and Defending the Rights and Interests of Developing Countries
Addressing the transformation of the global governance landscape, Prabowo delivered key remarks at the summit, calling for reform of UN mechanisms and improvement of the global multilateral system. He stated that BRICS countries are home to half of the world’s population, vast markets and core energy production capacity, boasting tremendous potential for collective cooperation. Breaking down barriers to markets, capital, resources and technology across member states can effectively secure global food and energy supply and unlock more development opportunities for developing countries at large.
He argued that the United Nations, as the most universal multilateral cooperation institution worldwide, should remain at the heart of the global governance system. Reform is needed to boost the representativeness and implementation efficiency of its mechanisms, balance the interests and demands of large and small, strong and weak nations, foster a fairer and more equitable international order, and earnestly protect the legitimate rights and interests of developing countries.
III. Dissecting Indonesia’s Unique Political-Business Ecosystem and Governance Resilience
Indonesia’s clear stance on strategic autonomy stems from its distinctive domestic governance system, which represents core logic foreign investors must comprehend when deploying capital in Indonesia. After years of transformation, Indonesia has evolved from the centralized pyramidal political-business system of the Suharto era into a multi-centric networked development structure.
Indonesia’s current political, business and social landscape consists of diverse stakeholders: eight political parties, two major religious organizations, local family-owned capital, large conglomerates and state-owned enterprises. These actors interact through contention and coordinated development within the unified national framework. Unlike traditional single-window approval regimes, delivery of large-scale projects in Indonesia requires coordination among central ministries, local governments, communities and religious leaders. Grassroots social recognition carries equal weight with regulatory permits.
Relying on the vision of national unity, constitutional consensus and regular democratic mechanisms, Indonesia has maintained solid governance resilience. It has achieved peaceful power transfers over the years, while local autonomy effectively defuses social tensions and civil organizations deliver grassroots public services, laying a firm foundation for sustained economic growth. At the same time, persistent development bottlenecks remain, including insufficient transparency of the rule of law, high cross-tier coordination costs and localized social conflicts.
IV. Following Local Logic and Capturing New Investment Opportunities in Indonesia
Against the backdrop of Prabowo’s governance philosophy and Indonesia’s local ecosystem, Chinese enterprises investing in Indonesia must discard outdated perceptions and build operation mindsets adapted to local realities. At this stage, state capital in Indonesia continues to grow, and overall social order remains stable and manageable. Nevertheless, detailed rules governing market access, taxation policies and industry supervision are dynamically adjusted, requiring long-term monitoring and assessment by enterprises.
Indonesia is not merely a “relationship-based market”; it is a market defined by institutional rules and multi-stakeholder negotiation. Instead of relying on a handful of conglomerates, enterprises should fully map stakeholders, align with Indonesia’s national strategic priorities, and accommodate local development needs and community sentiment. It is also critical to select local partners with deep on-the-ground expertise and regulatory knowledge, independently verify core compliance documents covering land, environmental protection and contracts, and establish long-term multi-channel communication mechanisms. This will turn Indonesia’s complex local political-business environment into manageable operational risks and support enterprises in achieving steady, long-term growth.
