The government through the Ministry of Environment has temporarily suspended the operations of three companies in Sumatra, namely mining firm PT Agincourt Resources (subsidiary of United Tractors/UNTR, member of Astra International/ASII), state-owned plantation firm PT Perkebunan Nusantara III, and hydro power developer PT North Sumatera Hydro Energy, regarding their land-clearing activities that might have caused the flood disasters killing hundreds of people.

In the past few weeks, we’ve read two different self-sufficiency targets in sugar sector. Minister of agriculture talked about self-sufficiency in ‘white sugar’ by next year, while the state plantation holding PTPN III pointed to self-sufficiency in ‘consumption sugar’ (non-industrial uses) by 2028.

Indonesia’s decision to appoint Roblox as an official collector of Value-Added Tax (PPN PMSE) may appear administrative on the surface, but it represents something far more consequential: govt is finally confronting the uncomfortable truth that global digital platforms have been extracting enormous economic value from Indonesian users for years—largely without contributing a proportional share back to the state.

As we reported earlier, Prabowo administration is changing the natural resource export receipt (DHE SDA) policy, wherein firms will be required to keep all of their foreign exchange earnings in state-owned banks (members of sovereign wealth fund Danantara). 

The clash of titans is looming. Victor Hartono, heir of richest man Budi Hartono (owner of Djarum Group/BCA), was initially banned overseas travel for six months. Days later, unusually, the ban was lifted. Then Sjafrie Sjamsoeddin, the current strong man trusted by President Prabowo, complained about status and operation of airport in Morowali, which was dismissed by Luhut Binsar Pandjaitan, the strong man from then president Jokowi, who tacitly supported Prabowo’s winning campaign.

Minister of finance Purbaya Yudhi Sadewa is famous with his prediction about composite index of Indonesia Stock Exchange (IHSG), which will fly to the moon (over 36,000 by 2035 from the current 8,637), but at the same reminded the Financial Services Authority (OJK) to show him ‘the arrested trading manipulators’ before giving incentives to retail investors.

Share trading of PT Platinum Wahab Nusantara Tbk (TGUK), operator of food and beverages retailer with Teguk and Cemil.in brands, has been suspended by the Indonesia Stock Exchange (IDX) since May 29, 2025, less than two years after the initial public offering (IPO) in July 2023.

The tragedy unfolding in Sumatra is no longer merely an environmental disaster. It has become a political reckoning. As villages were swept away, rivers overflowed, and entire communities were uprooted, Indonesia was forced to confront an uncomfortable truth: nature may have triggered the storm, but governance failures turned it into a catastrophe.

The government’s latest proposal — a Debottlenecking Task Force led by Finance Minister Purbaya Yudhi Sadewa — is being presented as a new fast-track mechanism that will allow businesses to escalate regulatory, licensing, and administrative obstacles directly to a minister-level forum.

President Prabowo Subianto once claimed that Indonesia’s current unemployment rate is at its lowest since the 1998 monetary crisis. The Central Bureau of Statistics (BPS) recorded a decrease in the Open Unemployment Rate of 0.06% in February 2025, compared to the corresponding period last year. However, recent findings from LPEM of University of Indonesia showed an increase in discouraged workers, indicating otherwise.