Finance Minister Purbaya Urges BKPM to Regulate Forest Utilisation to Boost Aceh's Regional Revenue

Finance Minister Purbaya Yudhi Sadewa has asked the Ministry of Investment and Downstreaming/BKPM to prepare regulations for production forest utilisation to address business obstacles in Aceh Jaya Regency.

“There is a company that wants to utilise the forest area, but it is constrained,” Purbaya told reporters after the 13th Debottlenecking Channel Session at the Ministry of Finance office in Jakarta on Wednesday, 12 August 2026.

The complaint came from PT Ika Trias Serangkai, a processing and exporting company of non-timber forest products based on pine resin operating in Aceh Province.

The problem stems from the non-issuance of the Business Licensing Commitment Approval for Forest Utilisation for a production forest area of approximately 44,715 hectares in Aceh Jaya Regency.

The proposed area is indicated to be largely located within the former concession area of PT Aceh Inti Timber, whose permit has been revoked, so its arrangement must follow a special mechanism for land arrangement resulting from concession permit revocation as stipulated in Presidential Regulation Number 70 of 2023.

“They did not get the land permit because there was some confusion about which regulation applies and who has the authority to issue the permit. After we looked into it, it turns out it is still held by the Ministry of Investment,” Purbaya said.

“So I asked the Ministry of Investment to work directly with the investor to see how it might be possible to issue a utilisation letter for the area,” he added.

BKPM is said to be coordinating further with the Ministry of Forestry, the Ministry of Energy and Mineral Resources, and PT Ika Trias Serangkai to expedite the resolution.

Given that there are indications of similar cases on other former revoked concession lands, the resolution of this case could potentially become a policy precedent and will therefore be decided carefully and in a coordinated manner.

“This is beneficial because, as the people of Aceh also want it to proceed, so that it can generate business in Aceh with revenue for the region,” he said.