Jakarta. President-Elect Prabowo Subianto revealed on why he did not want to skip attending the 2024 BNI Investor Daily Summit.

Prabowo came to Indonesia’s largest investment forum to wrap up the two-day event on Wednesday afternoon. Indonesia’s incoming leader began his vision statement in a light-hearted mood, saying that he could get scolded by his late grandfather if he skipped the forum.

“It would be hard if I did not attend this event. I could get bad luck, someone would wake me up at night. That would be scary,” Prabowo said, alluding to his grandfather.

Prabowo then explained that he is the grandson of state-owned bank BNI’s founder Margono Djojohadikusumo. 

“BNI has emotional ties with my family. It is our family’s pride. Mr. Margono was instructed by Bung Karno to open the first bank dedicated for Indonesians,” Prabowo said, referring to the country’s founding father Soekarno by his nickname. 

The former army general will assume office as Indonesia’s eighth president on Oct. 20 after securing a landslide victory in the elections.

President Joko “Jokowi” Widodo opened the 2024 BNI Investor Daily Summit on Tuesday, saying that the government transition was going well.

Jokowi said that his successor's dedication to preparing for the incoming government showed that Prabowo should be able to get to work on delivering his programs on the first day of office. 

“[When I first got elected] in 2014, I needed between 1 and 1.5 years to consolidate everything. That means we lost around 1.5 years back then. … A smooth government transition is pivotal to maintain our optimism, including maintaining both the political and economic stability,” Jokowi said.