January 22, 2026
JAKARTA – President Prabowo Subianto is seeking to attract leading British universities to establish campuses in Indonesia as part of broader efforts to bolster education partnerships with the United Kingdom during his working visit to the country.
At a closed-door forum at Lancaster House in London, Prabowo formally invited representatives of the UK’s prestigious Russell Group, ranging from the University of Oxford to the University of York, to consider opening up to ten new universities in Indonesia. The forum was held shortly after Prabowo met British Prime Minister Keir Starmer at 10 Downing Street on Tuesday.
“We want to invite [UK universities] to collaborate [with us], as they already have extensive partnerships with the University of Indonesia, Gajah Mada University and many other local universities,” Prabowo said after the forum, according to a video released by the Presidential Secretariat.
The President noted that several Russell Group universities already operate campuses in Indonesia, mainly focusing on digital and technology programs. One is King’s College London, which runs a small campus in Singhasari Special Economic Zone in East Java, near Malang.
“So we want to accelerate [this effort], we want to catch up. We must have the highest possible standard of education, on par with the best in the world,” Prabowo added.
He said the proposed universities would focus on medicine, dentistry, pharmacy and science and technology to help address Indonesia’s massive shortage of medical professionals. Prabowo cited data showing that the country still lacks around 140,000 doctors, while the number of medical graduates remains limited.
“We only produce around 9,000 doctors each year. So, who knows how many more years it will take to reach 140,000 doctors, and by the time we do, more and more doctors will have retired,” he said at the forum, as quoted in a Presidential Secretariat release on Tuesday.
If the plan moves forward, Prabowo said the new universities could begin accepting students as early as 2028.
“The plan is to build a dedicated region for these universities, and we must ensure the quality of life, safety and security across the entire campus to attract foreign lecturers to work in Indonesia,” Prabowo said.
The proposal builds on discussions held last year at Prabowo’s private residence in Hambalang, Bogor, where representatives of several Russell Group universities explored the possibility of opening campuses in Indonesia, expanding opportunities for Indonesian students in the UK and deepening joint research.
Ahead of the forum, Prabowo and Starmer signed a strategic partnership to bolster bilateral cooperation in various sectors, including renewable energy, maritime affairs and the digital economy.
Starmer welcomed what he described as “productive” talks with Prabowo, including on education, saying they had made “so much progress” in a short time.
Prabowo is set to fly to Davos, Switzerland, after completing his UK agenda to attend the World Economic Forum, where he is scheduled to deliver a keynote address on Thursday to world leaders and global economic players.