President Highlights Downstream As Key To Economy: 'Next Week Two Smelters Operate'

REPUBLIKA.CO.ID, SOLO -- In his speech at the opening of the Indonesian Economic Scholars Association (ISEI) Congress last Thursday (19/9/2024), President Joko Widodo stressed the importance of downstream to increase the added value for Indonesia's natural resources. In his explanation, the President laid out the success of the nickel industry as a concrete example of the downstream process.

“The nickel business is our focus, from nickel ore to nickel peak iron, then to nickel met, and then to stainless steel,” Jokowi said. He said that the industry had already reached stainless steel production, with the process still underway towards other derived products, such as cutlery and syringes.

The president also highlighted the development of the battery industry, where nickel ore has been processed into smelters, precursors, and cathodes into cell batteries. “Now we have produced about 180,000 electric cars, and in the future we could reach one million,” he added.

In addition to nickel, President Jokowi stated that downstream had been carried out on copper and bauxite. He revealed that two new smelters in Sumbawa and Gresik, which require investments of around Rp 50 trillion to Rp 60 trillion, will start operating next week. “It should be noted that Freeport is now owned by Indonesia through MIND ID, with ownership that will increase to 60 percent,” the President said.

In the context of bauxite, two downstream projects in Bintan and Mapawah will also be inaugurated soon, which will support the production of aluminum for various purposes, including automobile alloy wheels and aircraft bodies.

“In a normal world position, we would not be able to do this. Developed countries will definitely get in the way,” Jokowi said, stressing the challenges facing advancing downstream in Indonesia.

Through his speech, President Jokowi gave an optimistic picture of Indonesia's industrial future and the importance of downstream to create stronger competitiveness at the global level.

This article was created with the help of Artificial Intelligence that has already passed the editing process.

sumber : Antara