The Indonesian government officially launched the development of the Mineral and Coal Information System for Ministries and Institutions (SIMBARA) for tin and nickel commodities to complement the existing coal commodities. This launch was attended by the Coordinating Minister for Maritime Affairs and Investment Luhut Binsar Pandjaitan, the Minister of Energy and Human Resources, Arifin Tasrif, and the Minister of Finance Sri Mulyani.

Minister Arifin said that the presence of this application marks the government’s strong commitment to developing better, more efficient and transparent natural resource governance.

“Today is a historic moment for the mineral and coal mining sector in Indonesia. We are very grateful to be able to participate in the launch of SIMBARA,” said Arifin in Jakarta, Monday, July 22 2024.

The existence of SIMBARA, continued Arifin, is very strategic in the transformation of the mineral and coal mining sector in Indonesia.

“SIMBARA is not just an information system, but also a comprehensive integration of various mining business processes from upstream to downstream involving various related Ministries, namely the Ministry of Energy and Mineral Resources, Ministry of Transportation, Ministry of Industry, Ministry of Trade and Ministry of Finance,” continued Arifin.

The Ministry of Energy and Mineral Resources through the Directorate General of Minerals and Coal has contributed and played an active role in strengthening SIMBARA by building a digital system in the form of the Minerba Online Monitoring System (MOMS) for coal, tin and nickel commodities which has been integrated into the SIMBARA system. Following this, other mineral commodities will be resolved on an ongoing basis.

It is hoped that the use of SIMBARA can have an impact on optimizing state revenues and increasing the effectiveness of joint supervision between Ministries/Institutions. SIMBARA is also expected to be able to create an ecosystem that is able to monitor Government policies, improve the quality of service to business actors through single data entry, and utilize one reliable and accurate coal mineral data across Ministries and Institutions.

“The Ministry of Energy and Mineral Resources is committed to continuing to support the further development of SIMBARA, not only in terms of technical functionality, but also in the application of sustainable development principles. Thus, SIMBARA not only answers current needs, but also becomes a solid foundation for “a better future for the Indonesian mining industry,” said Arifin.

On the same occasion, the Coordinating Minister for Maritime Affairs and Investment Luhut Binsar Pandjaitan revealed the potential for increasing state revenues through the presence of this application.

“I emphasized to them that the potential benefit of increasing state revenues of up to IDR 6.5 trillion is one of the reasons for accelerating this integration process in addition to increasing compliance by business actors and the effectiveness of joint supervision,” said Luhut.

On the other hand, Minister of Finance Sri Mulyani Indrawati said that SIMBARA’s contribution to revenue was a small example of encouraging compliance by business actors. This includes encouraging business actors to settle receivables with an automatic blocking system (ABS). Entrepreneurs are also given convenience because at least since its initial launch in 2022, SIMBARA has simplified 10 systems into one system. Apart from that, 50 documents are coordinated in one door.

“So the authority of the state is upheld, entrepreneurs cannot lobby the ministry. With this system we work neatly and consistently without causing trouble to the company because the company already knows its rights and obligations,” he concluded.

Detection of Abuse of State Revenue Transactions

SIMBARA is also believed to be able to create higher efficiency and reduce corruption.

“This system is also part of corruption prevention measures because the Corruption Eradication Commission (KPK) was involved in its creation. This is joint work across ministries and institutions and I believe that if we do this together, efficiency in this country will be higher, making corruption less “That’s possible because you deal with machines and not with humans who can negotiate,” said Luhut.

This system will also discipline workers who must work in accordance with the applicable system regardless of position or institution.

“This system will have an impact on the environment, on workers because if they work in compliance with the applicable system then they will automatically be blocked by customs, they will not be able to export, whoever they are, whether they wear yellow, red or black clothes, whether they are police soldiers as backing, they cannot “This system will discipline us all,” said Luhut.

Minister of Energy and Mineral Resources Arifin Tasrif also agreed with SIMBARA, which is part of the action to prevent corruption, that since the implementation of SIMBARA, fraud has been detected by irresponsible parties.

“Since the launch of SIMBARA, the government has detected several methods in the form of invalid use of NTPN (State Revenue Transaction Number), repeated use of NTPN and an unreasonable time period for NTPN use and avoidance of non-tax state revenues (PNBP) and local NTPN being used exports,” said Arifin.

Minister Arifin hopes that SIMBARA will bring significant indications to stakeholders in the mining industry regarding the level of compliance with regulations, increase operational efficiency, strengthen transparency and accountability and provide support for sustainable development.

“By utilizing SIMBARA, it is hoped that it can have an impact on optimizing state revenues and increasing the effectiveness of joint supervision between Ministries/Institutions,” concluded Arifin.