“De-isolating” Papua from the rest of the world and increasing its economic mobility appeared to be among Jokowi’s priorities for his latest trip, as his itinerary suggests, a strategy generally hailed by observers as a step toward bridging the regional divide between Papua and the country’s more developed western provinces.

But the economic approach, if not paired with concrete efforts to address decades-old political conflict, is unlikely to soothe a restless Papua, experts have argued.

On Thursday, Jokowi visited a corn field in Jayapura regency’s food estate, inaugurated the newly built Ewer Airport in southern Papua’s Asmat regency and surveyed some small and medium enterprises (SMEs) in the area.

Ewer Airport was first developed in 2018, costing some Rp 287 billion (US$19 million) and designed to cater to 14,000 travelers per year. It will operate two flights from Timika per week, as well as four from Kamur and Merauke.

“Connectivity between the country’s regions is very important. Whether it be among regencies, provinces or islands, it will improve mobility for both people and commodities,” said Jokowi. “We hope that the economy in the Asmat regency will be improved.”

On Jayapura’s corn fields, where he gave some advice on yielding better harvests, Jokowi emphasized that a good food-production management system would lead to a more prosperous eastern Indonesia.

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