After Nickel, Jokowi Asks for Downstream Bauxite, Copper-Gold!

Jakarta, CNBC Indonesia – President Joko Widodo (Jokowi) said that downstreaming the nickel, bauxite, copper, gold, and crude palm oil (CPO) industries will be a major strategy for the Indonesian economy going forward.

Jokowi said that the downstreaming of the nickel industry which is currently being carried out by Indonesia, with the cessation of nickel ore exports, has shown positive results for the economy.

He said that exports of steel in the first half of this year had reached US$ 10.5 billion or around Rp.152 trillion (using exchange rate of Rp. 14,500 per US$).

This was stated by Jokowi when giving a briefing at the 100 Economist Workshop with the theme Strengthening Fiscal Structural Reform and Quality Expenditure in the Midst of a Pandemic which was held virtually by INDEF and CNBC Indonesia.

“Downstream, we have started to stop exporting nickel raw materials, then everything must be downstream. The results are starting to show. Our exports of iron and steel, in this half year, have reached around US$ 10.5 billion,” said Jokowi.

Because the nickel industry is considered successful, according to him, downstreaming will also be carried out on other commodities, such as bauxite, gold, copper, to palm oil.

“Therefore, not only nickel, in the future we will also start for bauxite, starting with gold, copper, downstream palm oil, as many derivatives of raw materials as possible can be at least semi-finished goods, thankfully they can be finished goods”, he explained.

He said the downstreaming of this industry is one of the three major strategies of the country’s economy in the future. Two other major strategies are the digitization of MSMEs and the green economy.

“In the future, our big economic strategy, the country’s big economic strategy, there are three things I want to convey, firstly, industrial downstreaming, secondly digitizing MSMEs, and thirdly we must start entering the green economy,” he concluded.