“I think, in the future, we also have to increase palm oil plantations. We don’t have to be afraid of endangering, what is it called, deforestation, right?” Prabowo said.
resident Prabowo Subianto has said Indonesia should develop more palm oil plantations and should not be concerned about deforestation accusations from other countries.
He urged all governors, regents, government officials, police and military personnel to safeguard the country’s oil palm plantations, saying they were key national assets.
“I think, in the future, we also have to increase palm oil plantations. We don’t have to be afraid of endangering, what is it called, deforestation, right?” Prabowo said in his opening remarks during the 2025-2029 National Medium-Term Development Plan (RPJMN) conference on Monday.
A nationwide moratorium on new oil palm plantations began in late 2018 and ended in 2021 amid international pressure to limit deforestation and the loss of biodiversity in the country.
The Office of the Coordinating Economic Minister, however, said on Nov. 18 that the policy remained in place and claimed no new land had been cleared for oil palms.
Prabowo said Indonesia’s crude palm oil (CPO) played a critical role in global markets and claimed many countries were worried about losing access to it despite criticism related to deforestation.
He said European countries attempting to implement the EU Deforestation-Free Regulation (EUDR) would be hurt by their own policies, as products from food to cosmetics still relied on CPO as a raw material.
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