Prabowo Concludes Four-Nation Tour, Touting UN Success and Trade Deals

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September 28, 2025 | 11:23 am

TEMPO.CO, Jakarta - The Garuda Indonesia-1 airplane carrying President Prabowo Subianto and his entourage arrived at Halim Perdanakusuma Air Force Base, Jakarta, on Saturday afternoon, September 27, 2025. Prabowo returned to the country after completing a week-long series of official visits to four countries: Japan, the United States, Canada, and the Netherlands.

Key Achievements of the Tour

The President's first stop was a brief visit to Japan, where he toured the Indonesian Pavilion at Expo Osaka 2025. Cabinet Secretary Lieutenant Colonel Teddy Indra Wijaya, citing a report from National Development Planning Minister Rachmat Pambudy, announced that the quadrennial event had already recorded investment commitments totaling US$23.8 billion, or around Rp380 trillion.

Upon his arrival in Jakarta, Prabowo claimed the international visits had yielded several important achievements for Indonesia. "The meetings at the UN were very productive," the Chair of the Gerindra Party said at Halim Perdanakusuma Airport.

In New York, United States, on Tuesday, September 23, 2025, Prabowo presented Indonesia's views at the 80th United Nations General Assembly. The retired TNI General noted that positive responses from various world leaders opened up opportunities for concrete steps on global issues, particularly the conflict in Palestine.

Prabowo expressed hope for a breakthrough in resolving the conflict in the near future, stating he observed goodwill from many parties. "We urgently need a ceasefire for the people of Gaza and a substantive solution," the former Minister of Defense emphasized.

Trade and Artifacts

During his visit to Canada, Prabowo was received by Governor General Mary Simon and met with Canadian Prime Minister (PM) Mark Carney. He witnessed the signing of the Indonesia-Canada Comprehensive Economic Partnership Agreement (ICA-CEPA), a long-negotiated free trade agreement.

"The bottom line is that 90.5 percent of tariffs on Indonesian goods will be eliminated by Canada. And that is certainly a positive, very positive impact on Indonesian import trade," Teddy Indra Wijaya explained.

Meanwhile, in the Netherlands, Prabowo was received by King Willem-Alexander and Queen Maxima at the Huis ten Bosch Palace in The Hague.

Teddy said the official meeting marked a strengthening of bilateral relations, including an agreement for the Netherlands to return approximately 30,000 historical Javanese artifacts and objects, as well as fossils and documents belonging to Indonesia.

Criticism Targets UN Speech and Domestic Claims

The President’s address at the UN General Assembly drew criticism from Amnesty International Indonesia. Executive Director Usman Hamid criticized Prabowo for not explicitly referring to the events in Palestine as genocide, despite the UN and international human rights institutions confirming its occurrence, perpetrated by Israel.

"Indonesia should urge Israel to dismantle illegal settlements and stop trading or investing in companies that contribute to genocide, apartheid, or Israel's illegal occupation," Usman said in a statement on Thursday, September 25, 2025.

Other civil organizations also questioned Prabowo's domestic claims made at the UN, including Indonesia's achievement of rice self-sufficiency, the target for reforestation on 12 million hectares of critical land, the construction of a 480-kilometer-long seawall, and the commitment to achieve net-zero emissions by 2060 or earlier.

Jaya Darmawan, a researcher with the Center of Economic and Law Studies (Celios), pointed out that data from the Central Statistics Agency (BPS) showed a decrease in rice fields, from 10.21 million hectares in 2023 to 10.05 million hectares a year later. Rice production also reportedly decreased from 53.98 million tons to 53.14 million tons.

Furthermore, problems persist with the increase in prices of medium and premium rice above the Highest Retail Price (HET). "So, what self-sufficiency is he referring to?" Jaya questioned when met after a discussion event in Menteng, Jakarta, on Wednesday, September 24, 2025.

Defara Dhanya contributed to the report

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