New ‘command economy’? Indonesia seizes land the size of Switzerland

It started in earnest in March, with a swathe of palm-oil estates seized from a tycoon caught up in corruption allegations. Nine months later, a drive overseen by Indonesia

’s defence minister has brought an area the size of Switzerland under state control.

The campaign, outwardly a push to improve governance, is a show of force by President Prabowo Subianto

, an ex-general who has regularly railed against both Indonesian elites and foreigners for profiting off the country’s resource riches at the expense of the nation.

Already, the central government has taken more than 4 million hectares (10 million acres) of plantations, mine concessions and processing facilities – and much of that land has been handed to a state-owned firm newly tasked with managing seized estates.

“This is just the beginning,” Prabowo said at an event late last month. “We are on the right and noble path of defending the interests of millions of Indonesians.”

Domestic upheaval could soon have global consequences. Indonesia is the world’s top exporter of coal and palm oil, the biggest nickel producer and a leading source of copper and tin – commodities key for food and energy supplies, as well as future-facing technologies.

“This increasingly shows the character of a Prabowo-style command economy,” said Bhima Yudhistira Adhinegara, executive director at the Jakarta-based Centre of Economic and Law Studies. “Methods like this reduce interest from investors, both in the plantation sector and in conservation.”