New regulations on industrial timber plantations (HTI) in Indonesia have been welcomed by industry players.
The new policies will enable private companies to raise their stake in an HTI it jointly owns with state-owned companies by injecting capital into the venture.
And a new ruling allowing merger and acquisition opportunities will open the door for new investors to join timber plantations and help companies with financial problems to obtain funds.
However, the new policies are not enought to tackle basic problems such as the lack of legal and land assurance.
Critics say the lack of law enforcement and security assurances over land ownership and illegal logging has lessened investors’ appetite for the business.
