I think it’s time for Indonesia to play a bigger role…
Nusa Dua, Bali (ANTARA) – Coordinating Minister for Maritime Affairs and Investment Luhut Binsar Pandjaitan highlighted Indonesia’s economic potential during a meeting with representatives of African countries and companies here on Thursday in a bid to foster cooperation.
Speaking at the Special Meeting of Ministers-CEOs: Emerging Economies Cooperation, he said that Indonesia has become one of the fastest growing economies after the pandemic.
“We were one of the fastest countries (in terms of economic recovery) because we were able to handle the COVID-19 pandemic (well) and carry out industrial downstreaming,” he explained.
According to Statistics Indonesia (BPS), the Indonesian economy grew by 5.7 percent year-on-year (yoy) in the third quarter of 2022.
Regarding the downstream industry, the coordinating minister said that Indonesia currently not only produces raw materials, but also makes processed products from the raw materials.
Indonesia is the world’s largest nickel producer, he noted. Previously, Indonesia only exported nickel ore, however, Indonesia is now processing the ore into iron and steel to generate added value from the raw material.
The value of Indonesia’s iron ore exports stood at US$1.2 billion in 2015, while currently it is pegged at almost US$21 billion.
“Indonesia is undergoing an economic transformation. Currently, we have a plan to develop the battery and electric vehicle industry,” Pandjaitan reported.
Indonesia is building several industrial parks, especially outside the Java region, to speed up industrial transformation and promote equitable distribution of economic growth.
In addition, the coordinating minister said that the country will optimize the use of various new and renewable energy potentials, such as solar, geothermal, hydro and wind, to achieve net zero emissions by 2060 or sooner.
This potential is expected to attract African countries and other developing states to collaborate with Indonesia, he added.
“I think it is time for Indonesia to play a bigger role, (therefore) we invite developing countries, especially African countries, to cooperate,” he said.
Thursday’s meeting was held as part of Indonesia’s commitment to accommodate the interests of developing countries while serving as chair of the 2022 G20 presidency.
The meeting was attended by representatives of the Democratic Republic of the Congo, Senegal, Rwanda and the African Union Development Agency.
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