Three of four candidates for chair of Indonesia's Hipmi young entrepreneurs association walked out of the second candidate debate in Bali on Saturday over rejection of Lampung as host for the upcoming national meeting.
Ahmad Salim Assegaf, chair of Hipmi's East Java regional board, denied claims that a majority of regional chairs rejected Lampung as the venue for the national congress. He called the narrative of 50 plus 1 BPD chairs opposing it false and misleading.
The Hipmi Plenary Council meeting on 15 February 2026 in Makassar handed the location decision to national chair Akbar Himawan Buchari. A meeting of regional chairs in Bali on 22 May 2026 reaffirmed that agreement.
The debate in Nusa Dua ended early after Reynaldo Bryan, Afifuddin Kalla and Anthony Leong walked out. They said they were conveying the aspirations of regional boards opposed to Lampung as host for the eighteenth national meeting.
Reynaldo Bryan used the occasion to highlight tourism's role in the national economy, citing 25.91 million jobs supported by the sector in 2025.
