Jakarta – President of Indonesia, Prabowo Subianto, held the first meeting of the “Merah Putih” Cabinet at the Merdeka Palace, Jakarta, on Wednesday (23/10). During the meeting, Prabowo explained the rationale behind the creation of the Poverty Alleviation Acceleration Agency.

According to Prabowo, the agency was established to ensure that existing challenges can be quickly addressed.

“It’s not that I want to interfere with the work of the ministries—no. I want to help. Wherever there are bottlenecks, wherever there are difficulties, we must address them immediately. Let’s be honest, our bureaucracy is notoriously complex and slow,” Prabowo stated.

He further explained that the Poverty Alleviation Acceleration Agency will be tasked with studying and monitoring all social protection programs and aid distribution to ensure they effectively reach the segments of society most in need.

“This agency will study and track all social protection programs and aid to ensure they are targeted correctly toward the groups in society that still need assistance,” Prabowo added.

Prabowo has appointed Budiman Sudjatmiko as the head of the Poverty Alleviation Acceleration Agency.

In a previous interview with reporters at the Merdeka Palace, Budiman revealed that Prabowo had given him the mandate to reduce poverty in Indonesia as much as possible during the 2024–2029 period.

“All poverty-related issues must be drastically reduced over the next five years, and that is the responsibility of the agency we lead,” Budiman said on Tuesday (22/10).

Budiman explained that the agency will coordinate poverty alleviation efforts across several ministries, including the Ministry of Villages, the Ministry of Manpower, the Ministry of Industry, the Ministry of Communication and Information, the Ministry of Education, and the Ministry of Health.

With this coordination, Budiman believes they will obtain valid, objective, and dynamic data to guide their efforts. (RR)