President Prabowo pushes to revitalize fertilizer plants, boost STEM

  Indonesian President Prabowo Subianto instructed Minister of Higher Education, Science, and Technology Brian Yuliarto to prepare human resources in the STEM (Science, Technology, Engineering, and Mathematics) fields.

He also asked the Minister of Agriculture, Andi Amran Sulaiman, to revitalize fertilizer factories.

Minister of State Secretary Prasetyo Hadi explained that the president received reports from several ministers in the Red and White Cabinet and made these requests during a limited meeting at his private residence in Kertanegara, Jakarta, on Thursday.

"The President instructed Minister Sulaiman to explore schemes and find breakthroughs to ensure the availability of fertilizer, and, if possible, revitalize our fertilizer factories," Hadi remarked in a statement on Thursday (October 16).

According to him, Prabowo aims to ensure the availability of fertilizer to increase production and achieve food self-sufficiency.

In order to lower fertilizer prices to be more accessible for farmers and reduce their production costs, Prabowo asked the Agriculture Minister to revitalize fertilizer factories to improve operational efficiency.

Besides food security, Prabowo also asked Minister Yuliarto to prepare human resources, particularly in the STEM field.

"Minister Yuliarto has been specifically tasked with research on technologies to achieve energy and food self-sufficiency, including seed technology, and technology in the mineral sector, including derivatives from our natural mineral resources," Hadi explained.

Earlier, the government had also conveyed a plan to prioritize funding from the Indonesia Endowment Fund for Education (LPDP) for scholarships in STEM fields starting next year.

In addition, the government is also focusing educational funding on eight priority sectors: food, energy, health, defense, maritime, downstream and industrialization, digitalization (including AI and semiconductors), and advanced materials and manufacturing.

Several Red and White Cabinet ministers attended the limited meeting, including Minister of Finance Purbaya Yudhi Sadewa, Minister of Defense Sjafrie Sjamsoeddin, and Minister of Investment and Downstream Rosan Roeslani.