President Prabowo refuses to sell state defense industries

Jakarta (ANTARA) - President Prabowo Subianto revealed that in the past, he had ever blocked behind-the-scenes attempts by undisclosed parties to sell off Indonesia's strategic domestic defense industries to foreign buyers under the pretext of poor profitability.

Speaking at the inauguration of the Meninting Dam in West Lombok, West Nusa Tenggara, he fiercely defended the state-owned defense companies, which he claims were systematically neglected and primed for liquidation.

"There were so many companies that seemed to want to be sold to foreigners, I forbade them!" President Prabowo declared on Friday (July 10).

"Previously, the defense industry wanted to be sold. PT PAL wanted to be sold, PT Pindad wanted to be sold, PT DI was killed and wanted to be sold. We will revive it! Now, we will revive all these companies," he added.

President Prabowo, who has managed the national defense portfolio since serving as defense minister from 2019 to 2024 under former President Joko Widodo, announced that state-owned defense enterprises—which were initially targeted for liquidation—are now growing rapidly.

He pointed to major international milestones secured by the domestic defense companies, which have been consolidated under the Defend ID holding company since 2022.

Among them is the land systems and weapons manufacturer PT Pindad, which has reportedly secured a major contract with the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia.

According to the President, PT Pindad will manufacture rifles and machine guns for the Saudi Arabian military.

"Our weapons are tested," he noted.

In addition, the state-owned shipbuilder PT PAL Indonesia has evolved from producing hospital ships to constructing highly sophisticated combat vessels and submarines.

The Surabaya-based state shipyard has previously been successful in constructing the submarine KRI Alugoro-405 through a joint operation with South Korea's Daewoo Shipbuilding & Marine Engineering (DSME).

Moving forward, PT PAL has officially entered the physical fabrication phase for two advanced Scorpene-class submarines ordered by the Indonesian government in partnership with France's Naval Group.

The two entities commenced the first steel-cutting stage this July, with both sophisticated submarines scheduled to be constructed entirely at PT PAL's facilities in Surabaya.

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Translator: Genta Tenri Mawangi, Yashinta Difa

Editor: Rahmad Nasution

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