DPR member: Creation of export-dedicated state-owned enterprises to strengthen natural resource sovereignty
Jakarta (ANTARA) – Ahmad Labib, a member of Commission VI of the Indonesian House of Representatives (DPR RI), said that the government’s move to form a new state-owned enterprise (BUMN) dedicated specifically to handling exports is important for strengthening Indonesia’s natural resource sovereignty (SDA). He said Indonesia needs more integrated national trade instruments so that exports of natural resources no longer proceed piecemeal and are prone to leakage of state revenue.
‘The formation of an export-focused BUMN under Danantara could be one of the strategic steps to strengthen the national trading system,’ Labib said in a statement in Jakarta on Wednesday.
He noted that Indonesia’s export trading arrangements for strategic commodities have long faced structural problems, ranging from underpricing (pricing below market value), weak control of the international trading chain, leakage of export proceeds, to a low bargaining position in global markets.
Those conditions, he said, mean that the value added from the nation’s natural wealth has not fully yielded maximum revenue for the state.
‘The presence of a state-owned company that functions as an aggregator and manager of exports of strategic natural resources is expected to push the optimization of global trade gains for the country’s revenue,’ he said.
He hoped that the new BUMN would not only function as an oversight instrument but also be a state enterprise oriented toward strengthening the governance of the export trade of Indonesia’s strategic commodities.
Through a one-stop mechanism, exports of certain commodities such as coal, crude palm oil (CPO), nickel and ferroalloys are expected to operate within a more integrated and coordinated national trading system.
The trade-focused legislator assessed that the model could strengthen Indonesia’s bargaining position in determining export prices while minimizing price manipulation practices that disadvantage the country.
The state, he said, would also have stronger control over trade flows, export proceeds, and the synchronization of taxation and international transaction data in a more transparent and accountable manner.
According to Labib, the establishment of an export-focused BUMN could be part of efforts to strengthen national economic sovereignty amid geopolitical uncertainties and increasingly intense global trade competition.
However, he cautioned that policy implementation should be designed professionally and not create new bureaucratic obstacles for domestic businesses.
Therefore, he urged the government to involve exporters associations, industry players, and the downstream sector in drafting the operational scheme so that the policy can run effectively, efficiently, and still support Indonesia’s export competitiveness.
‘Most importantly, is how the state can be present through an export-focused BUMN to strengthen the governance of SDA in a more strategic, transparent manner and in the national interest so that Indonesia’s natural wealth can provide greater economic benefits for the country and its people,’ he said.
Earlier, President Prabowo Subianto announced the issuance of a Government Regulation on the Governance of Export of SDA Commodities. One of its provisions is that state-owned enterprises will be the sole exporters for commodities such as palm oil, coal, and ferroalloys.
The president announced this at a plenary session of the Indonesian House of Representatives in Jakarta on Wednesday while delivering the Macroeconomic Framework and the Key Policy Guidelines for the 2027 Fiscal Year Budget (KEM-PPKF) RAPBN.
‘We require that the sales be conducted through a government-designated BUMN as the sole exporter. In other words, the proceeds from each export sale will be channelled by the government-designated BUMN to the businesses managing these activities,’ the President said.