"Even during a prolonged dry season and a climate change such as El Nino and followed by La Nina, we can achieve extraordinary production increases," he said during his keynote address at the opening of the 2025 Apkasi Autonomy Expo at ICE BSD, Banten, on Thursday.
The head of state attributed this achievement to the hard work of ministries, regional governments, the Indonesian Defense Forces (TNI), and the National Police.
He also underscored a report from one district head who successfully diverted hundreds of billions of rupiah from the budget for new irrigation projects.
According to him, this initiative will irrigate tens of thousands of hectares of agricultural land within five years.
"I received a report on the saving of Rp462 billion (US$27 million) allocated for irrigation projects to address the dry season. This is quite an achievement," he remarked.
On that occasion, the president also reminded that budget efficiency does not equal to cutting regional transfers, but should benefit the community.
"Efficiency should not be interpreted as cutting regional transfers. Regional transfers are both direct and indirect, but all are for the regions," he addressed.
"The free nutritious meal (MBG) program is also distributed down to villages, sub-districts, and districts, with a budget of Rp171 trillion (US$10 billion)," he added.
President Prabowo opened the "Apkasi Otonomi Expo 2025: Trade, Tourism, Investment, and Procurement" exhibition at the International Convention Exhibition (ICE), BSD, Tangerang, on Thursday morning.
The agenda takes place from August 28-30, showcasing commodities, investment products, procurement, and public services from district governments throughout Indonesia.
The event, organized by the Association of Indonesian District Governments (Apkasi), has been held annually since 2005.
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Translator: Fathur Rochman, Resinta Sulistiyandari
Editor: Arie Novarina
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