Purbaya to Address Permitting Obstacles for Bauxite Processing Industrial Centre in Galang Batang SEZ

Finance Minister Purbaya Yudhi Sadewa will follow up on the permitting obstacles faced by PT GBKEK Industri Park, the manager of the Galang Batang Special Economic Zone (SEZ). This was stated by Purbaya during the Debottlenecking Channel Hearing held at the Ministry of Finance office in Jakarta. “This is the beginning of the functional change and release of forest areas in connection with the development of the Galang Batang SEZ, which has not been followed up since it was submitted in 2022,” said Purbaya on Thursday, 9 April 2026. The Galang Batang SEZ is planned to be developed as a centre for the processing industry of mined minerals (bauxite) and its downstream products, both from refineries and smelters. The initial investment value of this project reaches Rp36.25 trillion by 2027. After development, the construction of the Galang Batang SEZ is said to be able to absorb 110,000 workers with an investment value of Rp120.5 trillion up to 2027. However, the investment for the development of the Galang Batang SEZ is experiencing delays due to the lack of follow-up on the Integrated Team’s recommendations by the Ministry of Forestry. PT GBKEK Industri Park submitted an application for approval to use forest areas in the Masiran village area covering approximately 80.98 hectares for port construction. The company claims to have received approval recommendations from the Riau Islands Provincial Government, but currently there has been no decision from the Ministry of Forestry. Lastly, PT GBKEK Industri Park sent letter No. 112/GBKEK/IX/2025 in September 2025 regarding the application for borrowing/use of forest areas to the Ministry of Forestry, but has not received a response. To address these obstacles, Purbaya has asked the Ministry of Forestry, as the relevant permitting party, to follow up on the issue within a two-week period. It is known that the government has opened the Task Force (Satgas) Channel for Accelerating Strategic Government Programmes (P2SP) to accommodate complaints of obstacles faced by the business world. The channel can be accessed on the website https://lapor.satgasp2sp.go.id 24 hours a day. This effort is carried out to provide certainty to investors regarding the security of investing in Indonesia.