BALINEWSID.COM, MAKASSAR — Deputy Minister of Home Affairs Bima Arya Sugiarto has urged regional governments to identify and develop their respective economic potential rather than relying solely on government spending to drive economic growth.

Speaking after attending a Regional Economic Growth Acceleration Coordination Meeting at the Governor’s Office of South Sulawesi in Makassar on Friday (Sept. 18, 2026), Bima said stronger regional economies were essential to supporting the government’s national economic growth target of 8 percent.

“The 8 percent economic growth target requires support from regional economic growth. We are asking regional heads to identify their potential and understand how to measure and promote economic growth,” Bima told reporters.

The meeting was part of the second batch of the Regional Government Achievement Awards for the Sulawesi region.

Bima acknowledged that regional government spending is one of the components contributing to economic growth. However, he said adjustments to transfers from the central government to regional administrations, known as Transfer to Regions (TKD), should not automatically be regarded as the main cause of slower regional economic growth.

“Reducing or adjusting TKD does not necessarily mean that the economic growth rate will decline,” he said.

According to Bima, regional governments have other opportunities to stimulate economic activity, including developing local economic ecosystems and promoting downstream processing in the food sector.

He cited Sidenreng Rappang (Sidrap) in South Sulawesi as an example of a region that has begun developing such an economic ecosystem despite limitations in its regional budget, or APBD.

“There are many good examples in South Sulawesi. One of them is Sidrap, which has begun building an economic growth ecosystem,” Bima said.

The Ministry of Home Affairs, together with Statistics Indonesia (BPS) and the Ministry of National Development Planning/National Development Planning Agency (Bappenas), will continue facilitating exchanges of experience among regional governments, Bima said.

The initiative is aimed at identifying successful practices in different regions and sharing them as potential models for accelerating regional economic growth.

Bima also highlighted South Sulawesi’s economic performance, noting that the province’s economic growth has remained above the national average while inflation has been under control.

However, he said the next challenge was to ensure that economic growth was more evenly distributed and translated into tangible improvements in people’s welfare.

“The challenge is, first, how aggregate economic growth in South Sulawesi can also be followed by economic growth at the district level and have an impact on welfare, unemployment reduction, poverty reduction and other areas,” Bima said.

He added that strengthening economic ecosystems in individual regions should go hand in hand with efforts to expand economic growth and improve public welfare.

The meeting was attended by BPS Deputy Head Sonny Harry Budiutomo Harmadi, Bappenas Deputy for Regional Development Medrilzam, Director General of Village Government Development at the Ministry of Home Affairs La Ode Ahmad Pidana Bolombo, Acting Inspector General Bachril Bakri, Acting Head of the Human Resources Development Agency Andi Ony Prihartono, as well as regional government leaders from across Sulawesi.