Prabowo Forms Special Export-Focused State-Owned Enterprises for Coal, Palm Oil and Other Commodities — Here Is the Scheme
Jakarta, CNBC Indonesia - Indonesian President Prabowo Subianto, in a plenary session of the DPR RI on Wednesday, 20 May 2026, announced that he would establish a Special Export State-Owned Enterprise (BUMN Ekspor) for commodities. With this body, the export activities of coal, palm oil, and other mineral exporters will be entirely conducted by this Special Export SOE. ‘To achieve the nation’s objectives, today the government I lead has issued a PP on the governance of the export of natural resource assets. The issuance of this PP is a strategic step to strengthen the governance of our natural resource commodity exports,’ Prabowo said, on Wednesday (10 May 2026).
Prabowo disclosed that the sale of all Indonesia’s natural resource outputs, including palm oil, coal, and ferrous alloys, must be conducted through the Special Export SOE. ‘Sales must be conducted through the state-owned entity designated by the Government of the Republic of Indonesia as the sole exporter. In other words, every export product will be channelled by the government-designated Export SOE to the business operators managing those activities,’ Prabowo explained.
Prabowo stated that the aim of establishing the Special Export SOE could be described as a marketing facility, thereby strengthening oversight and monitoring to combat practices of under invoicing, transfer pricing, and the leakage of export proceeds (Devisa Hasil Ekspor). ‘This policy will optimise tax revenue and state revenue from the management of our natural resources; with this policy we hope that our revenues can be on a level with Mexico, the Philippines, and our neighbouring countries,’ he said. ‘We do not want our revenues to be the lowest because we are not brave enough to manage what belongs to us, the nation’s own assets,’ he insisted.
Scheme of the PP on the Governance of Export of Natural Resource Commodities (Prabowo’s briefing to the DPR)
Phase I: (Export processing) From 1 June to 31 August 2026
Companies must transfer their transactions to the SOE
The SOE must transact and contract with all foreign buyers
Phase II: (Export processing) From 1 September 2026
Transactions and contracts with foreign buyers -> entirely through the SOE
Responsibility and authority of export managers -> SOE
The following is the full draft of the regulation on the Special Export SOE regarding “Governance of Export of Strategic Natural Resource Commodities Through a State-Owned Enterprise”.
CHAPTER I
GENERAL PROVISIONS
Article 1
In this Government Regulation, the terms mean:
Export means the activity of taking goods out of Indonesia’s customs area.
Strategic Natural Resource Commodities are natural resource commodities designated by the Government considering national interest, economic stability, domestic needs, and/or the management of strategically important natural resources.
A State-Owned Enterprise (BUMN) is an entity that meets at least one of the following:
all or most of its capital is owned by the Republic of Indonesia through direct participation; or
there are privileges possessed by the Republic of Indonesia.
An Export SOE (BUMN Ekspor) is a BUMN that has been assigned a specific mandate by the Government to carry out export activities of Strategic Natural Resource Commodities.
CHAPTER II
DESIGNATION OF STRATEGIC NATURAL RESOURCE COMMODITIES
Article 2
- The Strategic Natural Resource Commodities under export governance include:
coal;
palm oil; and
other Strategic Natural Resource Commodities.
- The Government may change the Strategic Natural Resource Commodities as referred to in paragraph (1) letters a and b, and designate other Strategic Natural Resource Commodities as referred to in paragraph (1) letter c, through a coordination meeting chaired by:
the minister responsible for synchronisation, coordination and control of ministerial affairs in economic governance; or
the minister responsible for synchronisation, coordination and control of affairs in the field of food,
attended by ministers/head of non-ministerial government agencies.
- The designation of changes to Strategic Natural Resource Commodities as referred to in paragraph (2) and the designation of other strategic commodities as referred to in paragraph (2) are regulated in a ministerial regulation dealing with trade matters.
CHAPTER III
EXPORT GOVERNANCE
Article 3
The Strategic Natural Resource Commodities referred to in Article 2 may only be exported by an Export SOE.
The Export SOE referred to in paragraph (1) is designated in accordance with the provisions of the laws and regulations in the field of BUMN.
Article 4
- The governance of Export of Strategic Natural Resource Commodities as referred to in Article 2 may be carried out through:
export control; and/or
other mechanisms in accordance with the provisions of the law.
- Further provisions regarding the governance of Export of Strategic Natural Resource Commodities as referred to in paragraph (1) shall be set by each relevant minister/head of non-ministerial government agencies in accordance with their authority.
CHAPTER IV
DEVELOPMENT AND SUPERVISION
Article 5
Development and supervision of the implementation of governance of Export of Strategic Natural Resource Commodities shall be carried out by the respective minister/head of the relevant non-ministerial government agency in accordance with their authority.
CHAPTER V
TRANSITIONAL PROVISIONS
Article 6
Upon entry into force of this Government Regulation:
Export of Strategic Natural Resource Commodities as referred to in Article 2 may only be conducted through the Export SOE until 31 December 2026.
Exports of Strategic Natural Resource Commodities as referred to in Article 2 after 31 December 2026 may only be conducted by the Export SOE.
If the implementation of Export of Strategic Natural Resource Commodities as referred to in Article 2 has been fully transferred to the Export SOE before 31 December