Through this collaboration, we expect all nickel-producing countries to benefit by creating added value that is evenly distributedJakarta (ANTARA) - Investment Minister Bahlil Lahadalia confirmed that his administration had prepared a plan to create a special organization for nickel-producing countries, akin to OPEC being an organization of oil-exporting countries.
The minister had held meetings with Canada and Australia in connection with this initiative. He believed that collaboration with fellow nickel- and other mineral-producing countries was necessary to support the electric vehicle industry in future.
"We already have the formulation ourselves, but we have to offer the same formulation and for them (to see) whether they have correction or not, and now, we have given the concept offer to them, and we are waiting for feedback, but the general understanding is that we are at a point of thinking of the same," Minister Lahadalia noted in a press statement received here on Thursday.
The initiative to establish the organization was Indonesia's grand dream, so that countries producing mineral raw materials could collaborate and could have control of the world's mineral trade.
This was also done because European countries, which are the main automotive manufacturers, necessitated that the car battery factory be built close to the electric car factory.
"Well, if this continues to occur, then the countries producing these raw materials will not get added value. Thus, this idea was then pursued by Indonesia, and I communicated it, both with Canada and Australia, and we have almost reached an understanding. It takes a little more to explain," he noted.
He added that the initiative would be an instrument of collaboration between mineral-producing countries in order to gain profits while still implementing international trade rules.
"I think this is an instrument for us to collaborate well to foster a collective commitment, but all within the framework of collaboration for mutual benefit and attention to the rules of the international trade game," Lahadalia stated.
The minister assessed that by having an organizational platform for fellow countries with abundance of mining products, particularly nickel, nickel-producing countries could coordinate on nickel commodity policies.
He also noted that so far, industrialized countries producing electric vehicles have been focusing on protection, so nations producing battery raw materials did not get optimal added value from the electric vehicle industry.
"Through this collaboration, we expect all nickel-producing countries to benefit by creating added value that is evenly distributed," he remarked.
OPEC, or the Organization of the Petroleum Exporting Countries, is an body serving as a platform to negotiate issues regarding production, prices, and oil concession rights between oil exporting countries and oil companies.
All OPEC members produce about 40 percent of all of the world's crude oil, and on top of determining the worldwide supply of crude oil, the organization also controls its price.
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Translator: Ade Irma J, Mecca Yumna
Editor: Sri Haryati
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