Jakarta. President Prabowo Subianto aims to make Indonesia an “economically independent” country, as Southeast Asia’s largest economy marks its 80th year of independence this month.

In a social media post, Prabowo wrote that 80 years marked a historic milestone in the country’s journey towards economic independence.

“By economic independence, it means creating space for people to grow, taking strategic steps to achieve economic sovereignty, strengthening the values of mutual cooperation and social justice as stated in [our national emblem] Pancasila,” Prabowo said over the weekend.

He also highlighted how all hands must be on deck when it comes to nation-building efforts.

Since rising to power last October, Prabowo has launched several economic policies aimed at boosting growth. The retired army general aims to achieve an 8 percent annual economic growth rate within his presidential term, which is significantly higher than Indonesia’s natural growth rate of 5 percent. He then listed some of the initiatives that he had launched to spur growth.

His government currently banks on the sovereign fund Danantara, whose assets can surpass $1 trillion. The fund manages the country’s state-owned enterprises and has also partnered with several foreign institutions.

Prabowo has also written off debts owed by micro, small, and medium enterprises -- a pivotal economic driver as these businesses make up around 61 percent of Indonesia’s gross domestic product (GDP).  

Indonesia now mandates resource exporters to keep their proceeds onshore or within the national financial system for at least a year. According to Prabowo’s estimates, this move will add at least $80 billion to the national foreign exchange reserves this year. 

The president also launched the country’s first gold bullion banks in late February, a move that the government believed could boost Indonesia’s GDP by Rp 245 trillion (almost $15 billion).

Most recently, Prabowo launched 80,081 rural cooperatives across the archipelago. This nationwide initiative aims to cut the food distribution chain by taking out the middlemen. This way, Indonesians can enjoy more affordable food prices.

Another flagship program under Prabowo's presidency is a major housing development. Prabowo wants to build 3 million affordable houses each year in a move to address the housing backlog. Prabowo's brother, Hashim Djojohadikusumo, revealed that the housing sector had 185 linkages to the economy through the purchases of cement, lamps, electricity, televisions, among others. Hashim claimed that the program could generate an increase of one or two percentage points in the annual growth.