Under Prabowo, Indonesia’s Mining Resources Poised to Take Off

Jakarta, CNBC Indonesia – Under President Prabowo Subianto’s administration, Indonesia’s mining resources are poised to take off as a pillar of national economic growth. Improvements to governance, tighter regulation of ownership and law enforcement, including in the mining sector, could help Indonesia become a developed country.

Fuad Bawazier, a former finance minister who served in 1998, said the current administration offered an opportunity to optimise the management of the country’s natural wealth.

“I think it is already becoming clear that Indonesia will become prosperous and orderly, and will truly be able to take off again using its natural resources,” Fuad said on CNBC Indonesia’s Cuap Cuap Cuan podcast, as quoted on Thursday (22 October 2026).

Unlike during the New Order era, Indonesia has yet to make the most of non-oil mining, Fuad said. He believes the time has come for the natural resources sector to propel the economy to greater heights.

“During the New Order, the take-off did not rely on natural resources because, at the time, the only resource in season, so to speak, was oil. That was about it. Now it is time for natural resources,” he said.

Fuad said Indonesia had an opportunity to transform from a developing country into a developed one by managing its natural resources in an orderly and sovereign manner. He said arrangements for ownership based on Article 33 of the 1945 Constitution, combined with business-friendly models, could stem foreign-exchange leakages and maximise state revenue.

Stronger law enforcement, including the efforts to reorganise the tin-mining sector, was a positive signal for investors and businesses to continue investing in Indonesia. The government’s firm action against illegal mining and financial transaction crimes, he said, could create sound legal certainty over the long term.

“Revive the natural resources sector. Indonesia has another opportunity to become a developed and great nation. We should be optimistic. And those investments, God willing, can also go ahead,” he concluded.