Jakarta. President Prabowo Subianto said on Wednesday that stricter oversight and centralized control of Indonesia’s natural resource exports through a newly established agency under Danantara Indonesia could prevent state revenue leakages worth as much as $150 billion annually.

Speaking during a rare presidential address before the House of Representatives, Prabowo announced the establishment of a new state export body responsible for overseeing the governance of Indonesia’s natural resource exports.

The initiative is aimed at reducing state revenue losses caused by price manipulation, under-reporting, and weak oversight of commodity exports.

“The government under my leadership has issued regulations on the governance of natural resource commodity exports,” Prabowo told lawmakers.

The regulation has been followed by the establishment of PT Danantara Sumber Daya Indonesia, a state-owned company operating directly under Danantara.

Prabowo said the success of efforts to prevent revenue leakage from natural resource exports would depend heavily on courage, determination, and cooperation among all stakeholders.

Under the new system, exports of strategic commodities -- including crude palm oil, coal, iron, and ferroalloys -- will be centralized under a single export management body.

The president also stressed that all exports of natural resource commodities must be conducted through the newly established state-owned enterprise.

Through the new export governance mechanism, Prabowo said he was optimistic Indonesia could stop fraudulent practices that he claimed had caused state financial leakages totaling $343 billion over the past 22 years.

If successful, he said, the policy would significantly strengthen state revenues and improve governance in Indonesia’s strategic commodity sector.

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