Malang, Jawa Timur, Nov. 2 -- Deputy Minister of Villages and Development of Disadvantaged Regions Ahmad Riza Patria emphasized that strengthening human resource capacity in villages was essential to accelerating rural development.

Speaking after opening the 2026 Indonesia Village Expo (Indovex) in Batu, East Java, on Monday, he said better-qualified human resources would enable villages to further explore and develop their potential.

"Village communities must prepare themselves to ensure that their villages' leading products can be exported. This will accelerate village development, economic growth, and public welfare," Riza said.

He noted that villages across Indonesia had abundant potential to improve community welfare, ranging from...