Cabinet Retreat to Focus on Food as Indonesia No Longer Imports Rice
Jakarta. President Prabowo Subianto is gathering his ministers for another cabinet retreat on Tuesday that will focus on food self-sufficiency, among others, as Indonesia no longer relies on foreign rice supplies.
Shortly after Prabowo assumed power in late October 2024, the ex-army general took his cabinet members on a military-style retreat in Magelang. This gathering had everyone dressed in military uniforms, and aimed to improve synergy. Fast forward to 2026, Prabowo summoned all his ministers in Hambalang.
According to State Secretary Prasetyo Hadi, the gathering will zero in on the government’s performance over the past year, including on food self-sufficiency and the upcoming challenges facing Indonesia.
“We will evaluate our work over the past year to see how far the national programs have progressed. If there are problems, we will discuss them at great length in this retreat,” Prasetyo told reporters.
“But praise be to God. We managed to be self-sufficient in food in just a year,” he said.
Other topics that Prabowo will address include downstream industries, disaster management, and the free meal rollout. A day earlier, Prabowo announced that Indonesia did not make any rice imports throughout last year.
“We didn’t import any rice in 2025. We initially aimed to achieve this in four years, but we managed to do it in just a year,” Prabowo said at the nationwide Christmas celebrations in Jakarta.
Prabowo went on to say that rice self-sufficiency would not only benefit Indonesia, but also other countries.
“By not importing rice, the global rice price drops hundreds of American dollars. Many countries have thanked us,” he said.
The Central Statistics Agency (BPS) not long ago reported that Indonesia did not import medium-quality rice in 2025 as of October. However, imports still existed for premium rice and broken rice used for industrial purposes. Indonesia also relied on foreign supplies for rice of certain characteristics, including basmati, which is commonly used in hotels and restaurants.
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