RI Losing European Union Opponent On Nickel's Lawsuit, Jokowi: I Told Foreign Minister Don't Back Down, We Appeal!

President Joko Widodo

JAKARTA - President Joko Widodo spoke about filing an appeal from Indonesia to the World Trade Organization or WTO after losing a lawsuit regarding the policy of banning exports and downstreaming Indonesian nickel ore in the 50th anniversary of the PDIP today.

This lawsuit was filed by the European Union as a reaction to Indonesia's decision to stop exporting raw nickel. Jokowi said the government would continue to take legal action as much as possible in order to advance Indonesian civilization.

"I convey to the Minister of Foreign Affairs, don't back down! Because this is what will be the great leap of civilization for our country. I believe that, continue to appeal. We will appeal," said Jokowi at JIExpo Kemayoran, Tuesday, January 10.

However, Jokowi admitted that he could not draw up further plans if the appeal filed against the nickel export stop lawsuit lost again. Because, according to him, the condition of world trade is indeed monopolized by big countries.

"If the appeal later loses, I don't know what else we can do to make efforts. But that is a trade that sometimes suppresses a country so that they follow the rules of the game made by big countries," Jokowi explained.

On that occasion, Jokowi explained the reason the government decided to stop exporting raw materials. The former governor of DKI Jakarta views that exports of raw materials only reaped profits of little so that the best decision focused on boosting domestic economic growth.

Meanwhile, if the government industrializes and downstreams nickel, state revenues from this sector could jump about 20 times.

"The nickel that we stopped 3 years ago, when we were still exporting it was only worth Rp. 17 trillion per year. After we stopped this 3 years, a year it could produce approximately Rp. 360 trillion. That's a huge number," he explained.

As is known, the Indonesian government has officially filed an appeal against the WTO panel decision regarding the dispute with the European Union, on December 12, 2022.

The government filed an appeal as a form of further defense of the final panel report on October 17, which stated that Indonesia was proven to have violated the provisions of the WTO Article XI.1 GATT 1994 in a dispute registered in the dispute settlement settlement (DS) 592.