Bill on Coastal Management - Increasing Economic Potential and Legal Certainty

As an archipelago State it is surprising that Indonesia has never had specific legislation in place to manage such a vast and potentially long-term sustainable economic resource. The basic numbers here of 17,504 islands and more than 81,000 km of coastline serve to highlight the huge economic potential of proper and effective coastal management. The current legislative framework sees Indonesia's vast coastal resources fall under Law No. 84 of 1992 on Spatial Planning.

Unfortunately, the Spatial Planning Law has focused almost exclusively on land-based spatial planning at the expense of any serious contemplation of Indonesia's vast coastal resources. Commission IV of the House of Representatives (DPR) is currently debating the Bill on Coastal Management and if the Bill successfully passes the DPR then the new regulatory framework for coastal management will provide clearer mechanisms for the exploitation of coastal resources and legal certainty for investors. The exploitation of Indonesia's coastal resources is expected to generate trillions of Rupiah in the future.