Prabowo Proposes Ad Hoc Court to Investigate Problematic SOEs Over Past 30 Years
President Prabowo Subianto admitted he was surprised by the number of state-owned enterprises (SOEs). The large number of SOEs is due to the existence of subsidiary companies under these SOEs.
“When we formed Danantara, which is our sovereign wealth fund, we discovered that there are 1,074 SOEs, and some of these SOEs have subsidiaries, and some have sub-subsidiaries, and some even have great-grandchildren companies. This is extraordinary,” Prabowo said in his state address at the 2026 Annual Session of the MPR and the Joint Session of the DPR-DPD at the parliamentary complex in Senayan, Jakarta, on Friday (14/8/2026).
Prabowo admitted he had thought the number of SOEs was only 300 or 400 companies. Prabowo highlighted the performance of SOEs and plans to establish a special ad hoc court to hold SOE directors accountable.
“And these SOEs sometimes act arbitrarily, without responsibility to the nation, to the state, and the government is disregarded. I do not understand how this could happen. Perhaps we need to establish a special ad hoc court to investigate the directors and management, going back 30 years perhaps,” he said.
He said he would approach the DPR regarding the plan. He said many SOEs are unproductive.
“But I will also face the assembly, I will face the DPR, I will ask, if necessary, to provide an opportunity, a kind of special amnesty for those who repent, those who are aware, those who confess. I leave this to the people’s representatives to decide. If I report everything, I fear our people will all be angry,” he said.
“Too many SOEs are unproductive, continuously losing money, yet their reports show profits. The profits are simply fabricated. We are in trouble because many foreign companies cooperate with our SOEs, so we must eliminate these games,” he added.
On this occasion, Prabowo reported that 290 SOEs have been closed. He said he will reduce the number of SOEs to only 300 companies.
“But I am proud to report to this Honourable Assembly today that we have closed 290 SOEs. By 31 December 2026, we target to have at most 300 SOEs. More than 750 SOEs will be closed. Only the productive ones, only those that create added value for the people, will be retained,” he said.
Prabowo said the closure of 290 SOEs has allowed the state to save tens of trillions of rupiah. He is confident that restructuring down to only 300 SOEs will have a positive impact on the Indonesian economy.
“This may be the largest corporate restructuring in the world. By streamlining the number of SOEs, today alone we have saved around Rp 50 trillion just from the salaries of directors, commissioners, office rent, car rental, and official travel. We have already saved Rp 50 trillion,” he said.