Jokowi Reveals Fortunately There Is Global Geopolitics To COVID-19 For Indonesia

President Jokowi (Photo: Maria Trisnawati/VOI)

MEMPAWAH - President Joko Widodo revealed the benefits of the COVID-19 pandemic, to the global economic recession that occurred.

According to the head of state, with this problem, the attention of developed countries is distracted from Indonesia, which wants to downstream minerals and natural resources (SDA) without interruption.

"Fortunately there is global geopolitical, there is COVID-19, there is an economic recession so that developed countries are busy with the problems they have, busy with problems solving their problems and forgetting us," said Joko Widodo when inaugurating the inaugural bauxite injection for the SGAR project in Mempawah, West Kalimantan, Tuesday, February 24.

Jokowi explained that developed countries that import goods from Indonesia have started to become addicted to imports of raw goods.

"So when we want to downstream, we will definitely be disturbed. Surely they are not willing, of course they don't want to," he continued.

In his remarks, Jokowi also highlighted Indonesia's success in increasing the added value of products such as nickel. Before 2020, crude nickel exports only generated 1.4 to 2 billion US dollars, but after the policy of stopping raw material exports, added value jumped to 34.8 billion US dollars in 2023.

Jokowi said that the domestic aluminum demand reached 1.2 million tons, 56 percent of which is still imported. With the completion of this smelter construction, it is hoped that aluminum imports can be stopped, saving the country's foreign exchange of US$3.5 billion annually.

The President also expressed his joy because the integrated aluminum industry ecosystem, from upstream to downstream, has been completed for the first phase. This smelter will process bauxite into alumina, which will then be sent via Kijing Harbor to Kuala Tanjung for further processing at PT Inalum.

With an investment of IDR 16 trillion, President Jokowi hopes that this will be the beginning of a new chapter of Indonesia's industrialization. He also mentioned several other smelter projects, such as in Sumbawa and PT Freeport, which are part of Indonesia's great efforts to become an industrial country.