Talking about natural resources development, we should stop exporting raw minerals."Jakarta (ANTARA News) - Chief Economic Minister Hatta Rajasa urged mining companies to stop shipping or exporting raw minerals to advance industries at home and to prevent the country from continuously becoming a consumer state.
"Talking about natural resources development, we should stop exporting raw minerals," Hatta said at a national dialog on developing the future of Indonesia`s natural resources here on Wednesday.
The export of natural resources in the form of raw minerals would cause Indonesia to remain as a consumer country because its industries could not be progressively developed.
"If we can process our natural resources, Indonesia should not necessarily depend on other nations as their consumer," the minister said.
Hatta said that Indonesia had a big potential to become an advanced industrial country because its natural resources were abundant.
"The essence is that we should process our natural resources using the knowledge our sons have mastered. We have many excellent human resources," the coordinating minister for economic affairs said.
The export of natural resources in the form of raw minerals also disadvantaged small-scale businessmen who were active in the down stream sector. This was because they were not given the chance to do mineral product processing business.
He said that his appeal to businesses to stop exporting such a commodity had been met with criticism from a number of mining firms.
"They can just criticize. This country will never run bankrupt only because of that," the minister said.
(Uu.A014/B003)
Editor: Priyambodo RH
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