President Joko “Jokowi” Widodo has appointed Investment Minister Bahlil Lahadalia as Chairman of the Task Force for accelerating self-sufficiency in sugar and bioethanol in Merauke regency, South Papua. This assignment is stipulated in Presidential Decree No. 15/2024 issued by Jokowi on April 19, 2024.
Jokowi also appointed Environment and Forestry Minister Siti Nurbaya Bakar and Agrarian and Spatial Planning Minister Agus Harimurti Yudhoyono as members of the Task Force. Additionally, the Task Force includes Home Minister Tito Karnavian, Finance Minister Sri Mulyani Indrawati, and Agriculture Minister Amran Sulaiman.
Other key officials joining the Task Force are Public Works and Housing (PUPR) Minister Basuki Hadimuljon, State-Owned Enterprises (SOEs) Minister Erick Thohir, and Head of the Indonesian Quarantine Agency Sahat Manaor Panggabean.
According to Article 2 of the Presidential Decree, the Task Force reports directly to the President, with responsibilities including facilitating the availability of suitable land for sugarcane and providing necessary stimulus to business entities.
“The Task Force is tasked with expediting investment activities in integrated sugarcane plantations with sugar, bioethanol, and biomass power plants, requiring facilitation, coordination, and business licensing for entrepreneurs,” the Decree reads.
President Jokowi had planned to designate the food estate in Merauke, Papua, as a Special Economic Zone (SEZ). This discourse was discussed during an internal meeting between Jokowi, Coordinating Minister for the Economy Airlangga Hartarto, and PUPR Minister Basuki Hadimuljono at the Merdeka Palace last October.
Airlangga said that the change in the status of the Merauke food estate to an SEZ would focus on the production of rice and sugarcane commodities. The Merauke SEZ would cover an area of 2 million hectares, with an initial cultivation area of 200,000 hectares.
“We have not discussed production yet; the government is concentrating on rice and sugarcane crops,” Airlangga said.
