Antara News·Indonesia·Tuesday, October 27, 2026 at 02:48 PM UTC

Indonesia, Singapore agree to form task force to tackle forest fires

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Nabil, Kenzu

Jakarta (ANTARA) - Foreign Minister Arrmanatha Nasir said Indonesia and Singapore have agreed to form a task force to strengthen joint efforts to handle forest and land fires and their impacts.

Speaking in a joint press statement with Singaporean Foreign Minister Vivian Balakrishnan after a bilateral meeting here on Tuesday, Nasir said the task force will focus on law enforcement against corporations proven to have triggered the fires.

He explained the task force will be a means of exchanging information and financial intelligence and gathering evidence across borders.

“In that context, we discussed establishing a joint task force to strengthen business responsibility,” Nasir said.

Indonesia and Singapore committed to working together to ensure perpetrators of the fires are held legally accountable, Nasir stressed. In the long term, the aim of the effort is to restore land or assets damaged by the fires.

He said the task force will also work to trace the flow of corporate funds used to trigger forest and land fires.

“Smoke can spread across borders, but so can money,” he said.

Nasir acknowledged Singapore’s offer to share corporate data related to forest fire cases as a valuable opportunity in acting against perpetrators.

He also expressed hope that the partnership through the task force would become a stepping stone in addressing other shared challenges, such as “under-invoicing.”

In addition, Balakrishnan affirmed his country’s commitment to work closely with Indonesia in tackling forest and land fires and taking firm action against perpetrators.

He said all legal, regulatory, and economic efforts will be optimized to act against corporations proven guilty.

Through the task force, Singapore will increase coordination and share information with Jakarta.

He also expressed optimism that the task force can have a deterrent effect on corporations responsible for the fires.

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