Jakarta. Presidential hopeful Prabowo Subianto said in Sunday's election debate that gaining the respect of other South countries should start by developing Indonesia’s economy, among others, by processing its natural resources at home to capture more value out of its commodities.

Prabowo was responding to a panelist's question on his strategy to bolster the Global South cooperation of developing economies. In 1955, newly independent nations gathered in Bandung for the Asian-African conference. This meeting laid the foundation for South-South cooperation. According to Prabowo, Indonesia today will only earn the Global South's respect by growing its economy.

“Our national geopolitical and economic interests are of utmost importance in our international relations. So we must strengthen our very own economy. We need to safeguard and manage our [resource] abundance … by developing our domestic industries. So the value of our commodities can skyrocket dozens of times. We will gather all of our financial assets to make our people more prosperous,” Prabowo said at the debate, speaking in front of his rivals Ganjar Pranowo and Anies Baswedan.

“Only by doing so, other countries, particularly the South countries, will respect and listen to us,” Prabowo said.

According to Prabowo, many African nations consider Indonesia as a role model.

“Many African countries have approached us [Indonesia] because they want to learn from us. They consider [Indonesia] as a successful South country. Our inflation is low, and our economy keeps growing. We have been witnessing a trade surplus,” Prabowo, who currently serves as the defense minister, said.  

“Our leadership in international relations is reflected by our success in managing our resources, eradicating poverty, having access to technology, and becoming an industrialized country. Only by then, Indonesia will lead the Global South,” Prabowo said.

The so-called domestic processing policy sees Indonesia favor processing its resources such as nickel in the country. This has been at the heart of President Joko “Jokowi” Widodo’s economic diplomacy. According to the 2023 US Geological Survey report, Indonesia holds the world’s largest nickel reserves, standing at 21 million metric tons.

Jokowi not long ago said that Indonesia used to earn Rp 30 trillion (about $1.9 billion) back when it was exporting unprocessed nickel ores. After the ban came into force in 2020 and Indonesia began exporting processed nickel, the annual export value of the silvery white metal jumped to at least Rp 510 trillion. The government has plans to replicate this policy in other commodities, including palm oil and seaweed. 

Indonesia’s economy grew 4.94 percent year-on-year in the third quarter of 2023. The country’s inflation stood at 2.61 percent last year. Indonesia has been enjoying a trade surplus for 43 consecutive months.

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