Deputy of Strategic Downstreaming at the Investment Ministry Heldy Satrya Putera told participants of an online webinar here Wednesday that one example of the challenges faced by Indonesia is the lawsuit from the World Trade Organization (WTO) regarding nickel export ban.
"We try to maintain sustainability of the raw materials of the downstream products. That is one of the requirements if we seek to develop our industry. However, we see that currently, the WTO ruling poses a challenge to our export ban. This is not a simple matter that we must resolve or face in the future," he affirmed.
Similar challenges may arise in future following the prospective of more commodities' downstreaming, so mitigation and anticipatory measures are deemed necessary, he remarked.
"We also see other countries, particularly developed countries. They have made policies that limit downstreaming processes in developing countries, including Indonesia. This is also a challenge," he noted.
Putera also underlined that other countries have promoted some better incentives to attract investors in the downstreaming sector, particularly in the electric vehicles ecosystem.
"If we do not do that, it will be harder for us to compete or attract investment in the national downstreaming sector," he remarked.
Another challenge in developing the sector was in the form of lack of funding from domestic sources, he pointed out.
"We have listed our recommendations, so the state banks, or Himbara, can push for more financing facilities for downstreaming," Putera stated.
Moreover, mastery over tech is a determining factor in development of the sector, he noted. He also drew attention to promotion and collaboration as being crucial to attract domestic and foreign investors.
"Therefore, the Investment Ministry always promotes the downstreaming sector, whether it is domestically or internationally," he stated.
To date, some investment has been channeled to support nickel downstreaming for the development of battery and electric vehicles, he stated.
The same state of investment also applies to bauxite downstreaming as well as palm oil downstreaming, particularly oleofood and oleochemical, he elaborated.
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Translator: Ade Irma Juanda, Mecca Yumna
Editor: Rahmad Nasution
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