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Newly formed Agrinas SOEs ‘a solution in search of a problem’
The government is establishing three state-owned companies to oversee food, fisheries and oil palm plantations as part of a larger effort to bolster food security, but experts warn the move undermines the consolidation of state-owned enterprises (SOEs).
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A truck passes through an oil palm plantation in Muaro Jambi, Jambi, on Nov. 20, 2024. (Antara/Wahdi Septiawan)
T
he government is establishing three state-owned companies to oversee food, fisheries and oil palm plantations as part of a larger effort to bolster food security, but experts warn the move undermines the consolidation of state-owned enterprises (SOEs) to increase efficiency.
The plan foresees changing three SOEs, Virama Karya, Yodya Karya and Indra Karya, into agro-industrial corporations (Agrinas), and tasking them with managing fisheries, food and plantations, respectively.
Out of the three, the only one to have undergone the transformation so far is Indra Karya, which was formerly an integrated engineering consulting services provider focusing on water resources, energy and construction projects.
It is now state-owned oil palm plantation company PT Agrinas Palma Nusantara.
The transformation was made official when President Prabowo Subianto signed Presidential Regulation No. 3/2025 on Jan. 16. The two remaining companies have yet to be transformed.
Herry Gunawan, director of think tank NEXT Indonesia, said the operations of the three entities would overlap with existing SOEs like plantation company PT Perkebunan Nusantara (PTPN), food holding company ID Food, the State Logistics Agency (Bulog) and fisheries company PT Perikanan Indonesia (Perindo).
“It undermines the purpose of the government’s SOE consolidation efforts to improve efficiency,” he told The Jakarta Post on Friday and characterized the move as “a solution in search of a problem.”
