In his Wednesday speech, Prabowo highlighted this historical period for Indonesia to make the case for enhanced defence spending.
“History shows that nations that fail to invest in their own defence often lose their autonomy and are vulnerable to subjugation. Those that don’t defend themselves often become slave nations,” he said as reported by Metro TV.
The former general and defence minister, now president, has made no bones about his focus on modernising Indonesia’s military. Prabowo has pledged to gradually elevate the country’s defence budget to 1.5 per cent of GDP by 2029, effectively doubling current levels.
Speaking at the Indo Defence Expo and Forum on Wednesday, Defence Minister Sjafrie Sjamsoeddin announced defence contracts worth up to 33 trillion rupiah (US$2.03 billion) would be signed during the exhibition, which runs till Saturday.
He also highlighted that between 2020 and June 2025, a total of 792 contracts had been made with domestic defence industries, amounting to 230 trillion rupiah.
Former colonial tensions between the Netherlands and Indonesia have been in the spotlight in recent years, with the Dutch making efforts to mend old wounds. Among them was the repatriation of hundreds of Indonesian artefacts, the bulk of which were looted by the Dutch during colonial rule.
In the present day, the Netherlands and Indonesia are close trade and economic partners. The Netherlands is the European Union’s largest investor in Indonesia, reaching close to 50 per cent of total European investments, according to media reports.
The Dutch government has set aside a US$300 million investment to support various sustainable development projects in Indonesia, Anindya Bakrie, chairman of the Indonesian Chamber of Commerce and Industry, said on Tuesday.
At the same time, 120 Dutch companies are scheduled to visit Indonesia for a trade and investment mission on Jun 16.
The trip will cover several cities, including Jakarta, Medan, Semarang and Makassar, focusing on sectors such as food security, maritime, and water management, Jakarta Globe reported.
https://www.channelnewsasia.com/asia/prabowo-31-trillion-wealth-extracted-indonesia-dutch-colonial-rule-5177236
