The Urgency of a Commodity Export Agency to Boost State Revenue and Stabilise the Rupiah

JAKARTA — The government is strengthening the governance of export of strategic natural resource commodities by establishing an export body or aggregator named Danantara Sumberdaya Indonesia (DSI). This was stated directly by the President of the Republic of Indonesia, Prabowo Subianto, at a Plenary Session of the DPR concerning the Macro Economic Framework and Principles of Fiscal Policy (KEM-PPKF) 2027, on Wednesday 20 May 2026. In the initial phase, the policy will cover palm oil, coal, and ferroalloys with very large export values. Abra Talattov, head of the Centre of Food, Energy and Sustainable Development (CFESD) at the Institute for Development of Economics and Finance (INDEF), said the establishment of this body is urgent and strategic because natural-resources commodities such as crude palm oil (CPO), coal, nickel, and ferro alloys are major sources of foreign exchange and state revenue. ‘However, so far there have been vulnerabilities to under-invoicing, underpricing, transfer pricing, and weak control of export proceeds,’ he told Kompas.com on Friday 22 May 2026. With the single-window export scheme, Abra believes the state can strengthen control over tax and foreign-exchange receipts, and respond to concerns about under-invoicing and underpricing. ‘Is it already very bad? The exact numbers must be proven through audits, but indications are quite serious,’ he said. The discrepancy in records for high-value commodities by a few percentage points can mean a substantial loss of state revenue. ‘Therefore, I assess the strategic value of establishing this body to ensure its mandate clearly improves price transparency and export recording, rather than adding new bureaucracy,’ he added. In addition to addressing record manipulation, Abra said the SOE would ideally function as a national export aggregator and a service platform for exporters. ‘This SOE would also be suited to consolidating supply data, quality, price benchmarks, shipping schedules, destination countries for exports, and to help compliance with export proceeds,’ he explained. He added that Danantara must ensure existing export contracts are respected, but also create room for price reviews in line with global markets. ‘Thus the function of the state-owned enterprise should not kill private trading networks,’ he said. On the contrary, the SOE is expected to strengthen Indonesia’s bargaining position and help exporters secure fairer prices, access to financing, standardisation of documents, and system certainty.