WARTAKOTALIVE.COM – The Minister of Defense (Menhan) and presidential candidate (capres) from the Gerindra Party, Prabowo Subianto, said he supports the downstream natural resources (SDA) program, during the leadership era of Indonesian President Joko Widodo (Jokowi).
According to Prabowo Subianto, he acknowledged that the program was President Jokowi’s effort to prosper the Indonesian people.
“Indonesia, was given extraordinary abundant wealth, with that wealth if we can process it, downstream it, we will become a prosperous country,” said Prabowo Subianto, Sunday (9/7/2023).
Prabowo Subianto explained, if the downstream program initiated by President Jokowi is proven to be able to provide extraordinary added value for Indonesia.
Some commodities, such as nickel and palm oil, if processed domestically, will produce high yields.
“Nickel is compared (sold raw) to processed in Indonesia, it can be dozens of times its value if we process it domestically.”
“Palm oil when processed in Indonesia has an extraordinary value. The added value is extraordinary,” explained the general chairman of the Gerindra Party.
Nevertheless, Prabowo Subianto acknowledged that the implementation of the downstream strategy in Indonesia could not be carried out in a short time.
The number one person in Gerindra emphasized that downstreaming must continue after President Jokowi’s leadership ended.
“This is our direction. Whoever continues, must continue (downstream) well,” explained Prabowo.
Previously, Indonesia received a request from the International Monetary Fund (IMF) to the government regarding the gradual removal of the ban on raw mineral exports and downstream mining.
The IMF said, the downstream policy needs further consideration regarding the cost and benefit analysis that will be issued.
It wasn’t enough, the IMF also reminded that the downstream policy would not have a negative impact on other countries.
“The fiscal costs in terms of foregone annual (state) revenues currently appear small, and this should be monitored as part of this cost-benefit assessment,” the IMF said.
