Jakarta (March 27, 2025) - Minister of Social Affairs Saifullah Yusuf, or Gus Ipul, invited Minister of Forestry Raja Juli Antoni to collaborate to eradicate poverty in Indonesia. This collaboration will focus on empowering communities that have graduated through various programs at the Ministry of Forestry.

"We want the groups here (vulnerable, poor, and extremely poor) to be empowered through existing ministry programs, such as the Ministry of Forestry," said Gus Ipul at Ministry of Forestry office, Jakarta, on Thursday (3/27/2025).

Gus Ipul explained that the data on vulnerable, poor, and extremely poor groups that will be used is based on National Socio-Economic Single Data (DTSEN). He said that information regarding communities that have graduated will be submitted to Ministry of Forestry for further empowerment to be more independent and not dependent on social assistance.

Gus Ipul said that Ministry of Forestry will later empower residents living around forest areas. It is hoped that this step can reduce poverty.

"Well, what I mean here is that we select those who are indeed in the community around the forest and can carry out forestry-based economic activities, we can later hand it to you (Minister of Forestry) to be empowered with your programs. So that it can be reduced here, sir, in the context of poverty alleviation. If it is effective, poverty will certainly decrease," he explained.

Gus Ipul further said that this step is a form of follow-up to President Prabowo Subianto's instructions. He said that Prabowo is targeting poverty rates to be below 5 percent in 2029 and extreme poverty to be 0 percent in 2026.

"That's more or less our job, Minister. Please support, please help if there are opportunities for empowerment," said Gus Ipul.

Meanwhile, on the same occasion, Minister of Forestry, Raja Juli Antoni, welcomed this. He promised that his party would coordinate with the Ministry of Social Affairs to follow up on this plan.

"So I think we will meet later, I think we will make a schedule later, if it is already, we will meet again to make an MoU. If the MoU meeting, we can get the data, approximately how much we can work on together," said Raja Juli.