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East Nusa Tenggara Governor Melki Laka Lena and East Sumba Deputy Regent Yonathan Hani signed a strategic cooperation agreement on behalf of East Nusa Tenggara and East Sumba Regency, East Nusa Tenggara, respectively, with Jakarta Special Capital Region (DKI) Governor Pramono Anung in a closed meeting held on Mar. 22, 2025.
PT Freeport Indonesia (PTFI) informed that the development of the Kucing Liar underground mining project within Grasberg mine in Mimika Regency, Central Papua Province requires capital expenditure (capex) of US$500 million (about Rp8.2 trillion) per year. PTFI President Director Tony Wenas said that the estimated capex is needed for the next 7-8 years, adding that the Kucing Liar mine would be PTFI's fourth in the Grasberg area.
The revision of the Indonesian Military (TNI) Law has not only sparked widespread controversy in public but interestingly also revealed a semblance of a rift within the government and military leadership.
Indonesia’s financial market was thrown into turmoil when the Jakarta Composite Index (JCI) plunged 7 percent to 6,084 on March 18, marking one of its steepest declines in recent years. The market shock stems from growing economic uncertainty fueled by global and domestic issues, including the rumored resignation of Finance Minister Sri Mulyani, transparency concerns related to Daya Anagata Nusantara (Danantara), and a series of incompatible policies. The sharp sell-off underscores mounting fears over the country’s fiscal stability, with investor confidence hanging by a thread.
The government plans to establish 70,000 Red and White village cooperatives at an estimated cost of Rp 350 trillion (US$21.47 billion), with the official launch set for July 12, coinciding with National Cooperatives Day. This initiative aims to strengthen rural economies and tackle key challenges such as extreme poverty by improving access to staple goods. However, concerns have been raised about the project’s feasibility and the potential redundancy it may create alongside existing village-owned enterprises (BUMDes).
The recent scandal over MinyaKita has exposed a crack in the government and structural flaws in the domestic market obligation (DMO) policy. According to economists, the anti-market policy fails to account for volatile crude palm oil (CPO) prices, leaving producers struggling to meet costs and incentivizing violations.
Thomas “Tom” Trikasih Lembong, former trade minister during the first term of former president Joko “Jokowi” Widodo, is standing trial at the Jakarta Corruption Court on charges related to alleged embezzlement of state funds with regard to raw sugar imports. However, given Tom's support for the opposition candidate Anies Baswedan in the 2024 presidential race, suspicions have arisen that the case has been orchestrated to limit the opposition and even to prevent the emergence of a potential challenger in the next election.
Indonesia in 2024 held a series of elections that went off relatively peacefully and saw large voter turnout to give popular legitimacy to those in power today, yet the country saw its ranking in the global democracy index decline last year.