SGAR Luxury Inaugurated Today, Jokowi: Business Becomes An Industrial State

Inauguration of SGAR Luxury by President Jokowi (photo: Maria Trisnawati/VOI)

MEMPAWAH - President Joko Widodo inaugurated the inaugural bauxite injection for the Smelter Grade Alumina Refinery (SGAR) Phase 1 project owned by PT Borneo Alumina Indonesia (BAI) located in Mempawah Regency, West Kalimantan.

According to Jokowi, the construction of the first phase of the smelter resulting from the collaboration between PT Aneka Tambang and PT Inalum is Indonesia's effort to face the future of becoming an industrial country.

"This is our effort to welcome Indonesia to become an industrial country. We are processing our natural resources as well as exporting raw materials," Jokowi said in his remarks at the inauguration of SGAR's inaugural bauxite injection in Mempawah, Tuesday, February 24.

Jokowi said that actually the export activities of raw materials had been carried out more than 400 years ago since the VOC period which began with the export of spices.

As a result, he continued, raw material importing countries from Indonesia have become developed countries; while Indonesia, which has natural resources, cannot develop into developed countries.

"Progressing countries are really addicted to imports of our raw materials, so when they want to downstream they will definitely be disturbed, they don't accept it, they don't want to," Jokowi continued.

According to him, with the global geopolitical conflict, recession and the COVID-1 pandemic, developed countries have begun to divert their attention from Indonesia's efforts to downstream its natural resources and minerals.

Furthermore, Jokowi hopes that with the establishment of this alumina smelter, Indonesia can stop exports of raw materials.

"Stop! Export raw materials, self-process, because the added value will be obtained by the community, the state and that is very visible. The jump in added value is very visible in the numbers," he continued.

He also hopes that with this SGAR, 56 percent of raw materials from abroad will no longer need to be imported because of Indonesia.

"Therefore, after this, we can stop producing 56 percent of these imports. We don't import anymore, we produce our own domestic production and we don't lose the foreign exchange," said Jokowi.