JAKARTA – The Head of Palm Oil Study Center at Bogor University of Agriculture (IPB University), Prof. Budi Mulyanto has underlined the urgency of establishing the national special board of palm oil to reduce the complexity of regulations that hinder the development of palm oil industries in Indonesia.
Speaking during a panel discussion on the first day of the 21st Indonesian Palm Oil Conference (IPOC) 2025 in Nusa Dua, Bali, on Thursday (13/11/ 2025, Budi said that Indonesia has a total plantation areas of 16.8 million hectares. Despite becoming one of the largest contributors of foreign exchange for the country with around US$30–40 billion per year, the palm industries are still facing basic problems: Legal uncertainty and overlapping of regulations.
According to him, such condition is not commensurate with the role of palm oil industry as the bacbone of Indonesian economy.
He said that 42 percent of Indonesia’s total palm plantations are owned by smallholders. But many of them are still facing the problems related to legal status of their plantations as a result overlapping status and legal uncertainty and ambiguity.
“If we want to talk about legal certainty, let’s start with justice for smallholders,” said Budi.
According to him, the real basic problems are caused by regulatory fragmentation. More than 30 ministries and institutions have their own authorities over the palm oil sector, creating overlapping regulations and non-uniform data. Such condition has caused investment climate unstable and target of sustainability difficult to realize.
Budi said the current structure of governance does not allow the palm oil sector to grow optimally. Based on the article 33 of the constitution (UUD) 1945, he calls for deep reform to harmonize laws, policies, and directions of palm oil diplomacy.
He pointed out five pillars of improvement—legal certainty, stability of policies, sustainability governance, social justice, and strengthening of downstream, which will not proceed well without the existence of single board to manage the palm oil industries.
As a solution, Budi proposed the establishment of the national special board of palm oil, which will integrate and control regulations, data synchronization, and representation of Indonesia’s palm oil diplomacy at global level.
“We need one map, one data, one authority. Without it, regulatory conflicts will continually hinder the progress of our plam oil industries,” he said.
Budi sees the establishment of such single board as an absolute requirement if Indonesia wants to ensure fiscal consistency, institutional transparency, and certainty of investments in the future.
“One Map, One Data, and One Authority underlines the urgency of integrating the national governance of palm oil industries,” he said. (*)
