JAKARTA - Indonesia’s foreign policy direction under President Prabowo will be evaluated at the upcoming Conference on Indonesian Foreign Policy (CIFP) on 29 November in Jakarta, according to Foreign Policy Community of Indonesia founder Dino Patti Djalal.

Speaking at a pre-event press conference at Bakoel Koffie Cikini, the former Indonesian Ambassador for the United States said the forum will serve as a rare public platform to assess Indonesia’s external strategy after what he described as a highly active first year. 

“He visited 25 countries in one year. That is extraordinary,” Djalal said, contrasting Prabowo’s approach with President Joko Widodo’s first-term reluctance to attend ASEAN and G20 summits.

Djalal said Prabowo has built “deep political and diplomatic capital” with world leaders, naming figures such as Erdoğan, Xi Jinping, Trump, Macron, Ramaphosa and Lula. 

He added that Indonesia currently faces no major external threats and maintains strategic autonomy through defence ties with both Northern and Southern partners.

The conference will also examine Indonesia’s growing role in multilateral diplomacy after Prabowo became the first Indonesian president in a decade to attend the UN General Assembly.

“Foreign policy needs to be explained. What are our ambitions? What are our priorities?” Djalal said, noting no comprehensive foreign policy speech has yet been delivered by the foreign minister.

Migration and diaspora issues are expected to feature in this year’s forum, after organisers confirmed that the Creative Economy Minister will use CIFP to launch a new government initiative related to the Indonesian diaspora. The details of the policy have not yet been disclosed, but this announcement comes roughly a week after the Global Citizenship Indonesia launch, which allows ex-Indonesians to live and work in the country indefinitely.

Organisers said the ninth edition of CIFP, which carries the theme "Preparing for the Next World Order: Indonesia, the Global South, and the West," will feature around 10,000 participants combined, 90 speakers and moderators, and 23 total sessions. The forum will run from 09:30 to 18:00 at Kota Kasablanka, Jakarta, with confirmed speakers including coordinating minister Agus Harimurti Yudhoyono, Indonesia's minister of finance Purbaya Yudhi Sadewa, UNESCO chair in transnational challenges Amitav Acharya, and more.