So Much for Efficiency: The Empty Promise of Prabowo’s Diplomatic Travels

Tempo.co Editorial, April 1, 2026

When it comes to overseas trips, Indonesia’s President Prabowo Subianto stands as an example of a leader who does not practice what he preaches. On a number of occasions, he has instructed his subordinates to cut back on overseas travel under the pretext of promoting budget efficiency. Cutting the costs of overseas service, he has argued, is a key way to save on unproductive budget outlays.

Instead of leading by example, however, Prabowo has gone back on his own word. On the contrary, he has frequently traveled abroad during the first 17 months of his government. Currently, he is visiting Japan and South Korea. Just a month ago, he was on a trip to the US, the UK, Jordan, and the UAE.

Counting from his inauguration in October 2024, Prabowo has conducted 49 overseas trips—the highest number of all previous presidents. During the same time frame, Joko Widodo went on 22 overseas visits, while Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono made 15 overseas trips.

These overseas visits clearly constitute a squandering of public funds—a practice Prabowo has loudly claimed he is actively eradicating. The Center of Economic and Law Studies (Celios) has estimated the cost of a single presidential overseas visit can reach Rp. 20 billion ($1.2 million), covering everything from aircraft operational costs, accommodation, meals, and logistics, to protocol services.

During Prabowo’s time in office, the budget allocated for overseas official travel has ballooned. This is not solely due to the frequency of his trips, but also because of the sheer size of the entourage that accompanies him. When he first took office, he consistently utilized two aircraft configured for first-class travel. One plane was reserved for President Prabowo and his inner circle—his closest aides—such as Foreign Minister Sugiono and Cabinet Secretary Teddy Indra Wijaya. The second plane has been designated for the bureaucrats and diplomats accompanying the delegation. Prabowo has turned a blind eye to the situation, continuing his travels abroad even as the nation’s finances has come under pressure. By February 2026, the government had incurred a deficit of Rp 135 trillion ($8.1 billion). Meanwhile, the economic situation facing the public continues to be precarious. Yet, Prabowo has chosen to travel, incurring costs amounting to tens of billions of rupiah for a single trip.

As a result of these overseas trips, Prabowo has frequently neglected domestic issues that in reality demand priority attention from the central government. On several occasions, he has even chosen to fly to friendly nations despite critical domestic crises unfolding at home.

In early December 2025, he traveled to Pakistan and Russia just as floods and landslides were ravaging the regions of Aceh and North Sumatra. Prior to that, in August 2025, he decided to depart for China, even though demonstrations demanding the dissolution of Indonesia’s House of Representatives had just erupted in Jakarta and other major cities.

Prabowo claims his overseas visits are undertaken in the interest of the people and to boost the country’s economy. On his return from each trip, Prabowo and his team have asserted they have secured investment commitments totaling hundreds of trillions of rupiah. However, the cooperative agreements achieved have only been Memorandums of Understanding (MoUs); there has been no evidence of any tangible investment benefiting the Indonesian public.

The problem is it is difficult to realize these bilateral agreements when Prabowo acts on the diplomatic stage in isolation, making decisions entirely on his own. It has become common knowledge among diplomats that Prabowo and his team never involve career bureaucrats in their processes. He does not even share the details of agreements concluded for subsequent follow-up action.

If the success of overseas visits is to be measured by the yardstick of economic diplomacy, Prabowo could be deemed a complete failure. This is evident in the trade agreements reached with the United States; the reciprocal tariff agreement, in fact, ended up yielding greater benefits for the US.

Rather than shuttling back and forth across the globe without producing any concrete results, Prabowo should be focusing his efforts on resolving the myriad domestic issues facing the country. If Prabowo’s stated reason for traveling is to boost investment, he ought to first address the regularity environment, law enforcement, and governance issues—absolute prerequisites for facilitating ease of doing business and improving the investment climate.

Investment will flow in naturally once the variety of business bottlenecks are resolved, rendering it unnecessary for the President to frequently travel to other nations.

Without domestic reforms, Prabowo’s overseas tours will only serve to reinforce a widely held belief: that he simply enjoys traveling and is trying to establish his presence alongside other world leaders.

This post is based on https://www.tempo.co/kolom/diplomasi-indonesia-prabowo-subianto-2125784. Featured image credit: SecDef Prabowo Subianto at the Kremlin 31 July 2024 with Russian President Vladimir Putin (kemhan.go.id) https://nasional.kompas.com/read/2025/06/12/21461111/prabowo-dianggap-tepat-pilih-putin-daripada-ke-ktt-g7-di-rusia-jadi-tamu.

In related news:

• Prabowo Meets Vladimir Putin in Russia, Kompas.com, December 10, 2025
• Russian security chief boosts ties with Indonesia’s Subianto, by Matt Ford with AP, AFP for Deutsche Welle, February 25, 2025
• Op-Ed: Indonesia’s Cairo gambit: A strategic pivot towards the Middle East, Middle East Monitor, April 15, 2025