By He delivered the statement at the inauguration of the 2023–2026 Indonesian Christian Youth Movement (GAMKI) DPP and the inauguration of the 2023 GAMKI National Working Meeting in Medan, North Sumatra, on Saturday.
“So don’t export raw materials; later, please remind the future leaders not to export raw materials. The people must have the courage to remind them about that,” President said in a live YouTube broadcast released by the Presidential Secretariat, which was accessed from Jakarta.
Downstreaming refers to turning raw materials into semi-finished goods or finished goods before exporting them.
While reiterating the importance of downstreaming in all fields, President Widodo noted that for more than 400 years, since the VOC (Vereenigde Oostindische Compagnie) era, the Indonesian nation has always exported raw materials.
Even though it earned money from the export of raw materials, the amount was very little.
He then gave the example of nickel downstreaming, which has been carried out by the current government successfully. In 2020, prior to downstreaming, nickel exports generated a profit of just Rp32 trillion in one year. After downstreaming, the profits multiplied to Rp510 trillion.
Jokowi emphasized that the state gets royalties and taxes from the exporting companies. Downstreaming also opens jobs in the country.
“Because the state once again gets VAT or value added tax from nickel; gets company PPh (income tax), gets employee PPh, gets royalties, gets non-tax state revenue, gets export duties, gets a lot,” he pointed out.
“And specifically like Freeport, because we are the largest shareholder, we still get more dividends, so that’s called downstream,” he added.
According to him, the state’s profits will be greater if downstreaming is also carried out for other commodities, such as bauxite, copper, tin, coal, and even, non-mining commodities such as palm oil/CPO, seaweed, and raw fish, among others.
However, Jokowi said, all of this requires cohesiveness, unity, and the strength of all components of the nation. He then asked GAMKI to always be at the forefront to become a driver of the nation’s development in various fields.
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