Indonesia likes to believe it is entering the age of the “space economy.” BRIN is pushing an 18-satellite Nusantara constellation, and state-owned Telkomsat is expanding its portfolio through international partnerships. The newest collaboration—with Australia’s Myriota—promises ultra-low-power satellite IoT to connect farms, fisheries, offshore rigs and remote villages long neglected by terrestrial networks.

Major holidays are fast approaching, and the Indonesian government is taking several preventive measures against food inflation, especially with the free meals program still at the forefront of Prabowo Subianto administration. It was reported that the President, in a recent special meeting, instructed to increase the production of food ingredients, such as milk and vegetables, and to replace chicken eggs with quail eggs or beef for the free meals menu.

Shares of Bank Central Asia (BBCA) ended slightly higher by 0.29% to Rp8,500 on Tuesday (Nov 25) to make a market capitalization of Rp1,037 trillion. The stock was relatively stable despite the ongoing investigation of bribery implicating one of the bank’s beneficiary owners. 

PT Super Bank Indonesia Tbk (SUPA), controlled by Eddy K Sariaatmadja (owner of Emtek Group) and Anthony Tan Ping Yeow (founder of Grab Holdings), has officially launched initial public offering (IPO) of 4.4 billion shares to raise up to Rp3.06 trillion.

Reuters published a very interesting article recently titled ‘Surging Chinese imports of Indonesian oil point to rebranded Iranian crude, traders say’. The report might complicate trade negotiations between Indonesia and USA, because the archipelago has earlier been accused of transshipment of Chinese products to US market.

The latest fatwa by the Indonesian Ulema Council (MUI) has sparked an unusually emotional public debate. The fatwa states that non-commercial homes — houses where families actually live — should not be subjected to recurring property taxes. It is not a legal mandate; it is a moral argument. Yet its resonance is unmistakable: taxation of basic necessities is now seen as increasingly detached from social fairness.

Ministry of Communications and Digital Affairs (Komdigi) announced plans to require mobile phone owners to register their SIM cards using facial biometric data. The policy was framed as an effort to protect the public from fraud, hoaxes, and online gambling. Yet beneath that narrative lies the construction of the most intrusive identity infrastructure Indonesia has ever attempted — one that demands citizens surrender their faces in exchange for basic connectivity.

North Sumatra governor Bobby Nasution, son-in-law of Indonesia’s seventh president Jokowi, agreed to recommend the closure of controversial pulp producer PT Toba Pulp Lestari Tbk (INRU) to the central government next week. 

The Ministry of Communication and Digital Affairs (Komdigi) kept finding new ways to eradicate online gambling. Most recently, they issued a warning to the internet service provider Cloudflare for allegedly facilitating thousands of online gambling websites. On top of that, Cloudflare is also facing compliance issues and its services will therefore be blocked in two weeks if the company fails to comply with Indonesia’s PSE registration rules.

The Directorate General of Taxes (DJP) keeps urging taxpayers to activate their Coretax accounts and authorization codes, yet adoption remains stubbornly low. With barely around 20 percent of taxpayers onboard, the government seems eager to celebrate digital transformation while ignoring the most uncomfortable truth: Coretax is not being rejected because the users are allergic to digitalization — it is being ignored because the state still designs public systems without the public in mind.