APEKSI continues to strengthen its commitment to promoting regional fiscal independence by launching the book “Our City’s Original Revenue: Not Just Numbers.” This initiative is not merely documentation but a strategic guide for Indonesian cities to replicate best practices for managing Locally-Owned Revenue (PAD). Given that fiscal independence is expected to remain a major challenge in 2026, this book is a crucial resource for city leaders to learn from one another and strengthen their regional financial structures.
This spirit of collaboration was concretely demonstrated by the Mayor of Bengkulu, Dedy Wahyudi, during a visit to the APEKSI Directorate Secretariat in Jakarta on Monday (January 19). During the meeting, he expressed his interest in learning from the success of PAD champion cities, such as Malang. Accompanied by the leadership of the Regional Revenue Management Agency (Bapenda), Regional Development Planning Agency (Bappeda), and the Transportation Agency, the Mayor of Bengkulu emphasized that innovation in exploring regional potential is key to preventing cities from becoming dependent on central funding.
Interestingly, the Mayor of Bengkulu proposed a collective learning scheme to increase efficiency and accelerate the replication of innovations. By learning together in a single destination city, knowledge transfer between city governments can be more extensive and focused. Amidst current demands for budget efficiency, innovation, and synergy among local governments, these are no longer merely options but urgently needed to achieve sustainable fiscal independence throughout Indonesia.