Bamsoet: Indonesia Cannot Depend On Crude Natural Resources, Must Downstream

MPR Chairman Bambang Soesatyo (Photo: screenshot of youtube setpres)

JAKARTA - Chairman of the Indonesian People's Consultative Assembly (MPR) Bambang Soesatyo highlighted the use of Indonesia's natural resources (SDA). He said, currently Indonesia can no longer rely on raw materials from natural resources.

For this reason, Bamsoet, Bambang Soesatyo's nickname, emphasized that currently efforts are needed to downstream SDA to increase added value for the country. The government has also begun to be serious about bringing in various investments to boost this downstream.

"The government has worked hard and convinced all stakeholders to actively participate in the downstream process, by investing directly in Indonesia to build, and develop domestic industrial capacity, as absorbers of mineral sources," he said at the MPR RI Annual Session and the Joint Session of the DPR RI-DPD RI, Jakarta, Wednesday, August 16.

Bamsoet emphasized that downstreaming must continue to be encouraged. That way, he said, there is an added value from the continued process of raw goods into finished goods.

"The existing natural resources must be able to be managed alone in the country, so that they produce products that have a higher selling value, and are profitable for domestic economic growth," he explained.

"Industrial downstreaming is an effort to realize an efficient and just national economy as mandated by Article 33 of the 1945 Constitution," he continued.

Need Changes To Mindset Stakeholders

Therefore, Bamsoet assessed the need for a change in the mindset or mindset of each stakeholder regarding added value for this country. Starting from the government, business people, to the community.

"It is necessary to change the mindset of development inherent in each stakeholder, both among the government, business people and the community, so that multi-party collaboration occurs, to reorganize economic development that can produce growth, which is quality and sustainable," he said.

Bamsoet said, this can be realized by a circular-based economic model, or seeking resource efficiency. As well as making efforts to reuse the residues produced from the industry, to be reprocessed and provide greater and repeated added value.

"The circularity paradigm can of course only run when the quality of the national industry, has been able to carefully process resource materials from upstream to downstream, as initiated by President Joko Widodo's administration regarding downstreaming of minerals, gold, bauxite, nickel, copper and iron ore," he said.

According to Bamsoet, the mineral is encouraged for the downstream process, which is accompanied by efforts to prohibit the export of raw minerals.

"This policy shows the government's consistency in efforts to improve the quality of the national industry," he said.