Indonesia’s Bali financial hub ‘a matter of survival’: economic tsar

Luhut Pandjaitan wants investors to imagine kamikaze drones over Abu Dhabi, then picture themselves in Bali instead

5-MIN READ5-MIN

Listen

Luhut Pandjaitan, chairman of Indonesia’s National Economic Council, at the Nusa Dua Forum in Bali, Indonesia, on July 17. Photo: Nora Tam

Published: 8:00am, 25 Jul 2026

Bali has “aura” and political titan Luhut Pandjaitan wants to channel it to transform Indonesia’s famed resort island into an international financial centre.

But President Prabowo Subianto’s special adviser and economic tsar is not relying on subtle nods to Gen Z slang to sell paradise. Instead, he conjures up a striking image to make his case.

A friend recently sent him a photograph of kamikaze drones lighting up the skies over Abu Dhabi, accompanied by a plea: help us get out.

Indonesia, safely removed from the Iran war’s turmoil, was the obvious choice, he said.

“They said ‘We’d like to move our assets, we’d love very much to stay away from here and live in Bali, because it’s so peaceful in Bali’,” he recalled. “The Middle East conflict is not going to end next month or next year, I don’t believe that.”

Speaking to This Week in Asia on the sidelines of the Nusa Dua Forum in Bali on July 17, the 78-year-old chairman of Indonesia’s National Economic Council was a study in moustachioed calm – a far cry from the crisis of confidence that has roiled Southeast Asia’s largest economy this year.

For us … it’s a matter of survival

Luhut Pandjaitan, National Economic Council chairman

Indonesia’s Bali financial hub ‘a matter of survival’: economic tsar

.css-1c6uqr6{color:inherit;font-weight:inherit;font-size:inherit;font-family:inherit;line-height:inherit;overflow-wrap:break-word;}Luhut Pandjaitan wants investors to imagine kamikaze drones over Abu Dhabi, then picture themselves in Bali instead

Luhut Pandjaitan wants investors to imagine kamikaze drones over Abu Dhabi, then picture themselves in Bali instead