Jakarta. Indonesia’s government said a newly proposed state-controlled commodity trading body will not replace the role of customs authorities in overseeing exports and imports of strategic commodities.

Finance Minister Purbaya Yudhi Sadewa said the newly established state-owned enterprise Danantara Sumberdaya Indonesia (DSI) would focus on commodity trading and export reporting, while customs inspections and supervision would remain under the authority of the Directorate General of Customs and Excise.

“It does not mean the role of Customs and Excise will disappear,” Purbaya told reporters in Jakarta on Tuesday.

The government recently introduced plans to establish DSI to centralize and improve oversight of Indonesia’s strategic commodity exports, particularly natural resources. Officials say the new entity is intended to strengthen transaction reporting, trade monitoring, and governance transparency.

Under the proposed arrangement, DSI would manage trade transactions and export reporting for selected commodities, while the customs agency would continue enforcing import-export procedures and border inspections.

Purbaya said there had been no directive from President Prabowo Subianto to reduce or transfer the powers of Customs and Excise following DSI’s creation.

“Some people have speculated about that, but I have never received any instruction from the President regarding eliminating Customs’ role,” he said.

Instead, Purbaya said Prabowo had instructed the government to strengthen Customs and Excise to improve oversight of export-import activities as Indonesia reforms management of its strategic commodity trade.

“He actually said we should strengthen Customs,” Purbaya said.

The comments come amid growing scrutiny of Indonesia’s commodity export governance as the government pushes downstream industrialization policies aimed at increasing domestic processing and boosting state revenues from natural resources.

Purbaya also referred to recent remarks by Prabowo calling for stronger performance within the customs agency.

“The functions remain the same, but performance must improve,” he said. “As the President said in his speech, if officials are not performing properly, their heads could be replaced.”

Asked about speculation over the future of Customs and Excise Director General Djaka Budhi Utama, Purbaya said no final decision had been made.

“We are still waiting for political decisions from above,” he said.

President Prabowo wants to tighten oversight of strategic commodity exports through the establishment of DSI. Under the new system, exports of strategic commodities such as crude palm oil, coal, iron, and ferroalloys will gradually be centralized under a single export management entity as part of broader efforts to improve export governance.

Prabowo said last week that stricter state oversight of natural resource exports could help Indonesia prevent revenue leakages worth as much as $150 billion annually. He also claimed fraudulent export practices had caused cumulative state losses of around $343 billion over the past 22 years.

The government hopes the new export governance mechanism will improve transparency, reduce under-invoicing, and ensure more export proceeds flow back into Indonesia’s domestic financial system.