Jakarta, CNBC Indonesia – Minister of Investment/Head of BKPM Bahlil Lahadalia again stated that Indonesia had a “windfall” or benefited up to 10 times from the action of the government of Indonesian President Joko Widodo (Jokowi) to ban nickel ore export activities and carry out downstream nickel exports.
According to Bahlil, nickel exports during the 2017-2018 period were only US$ 3.3 billion. This is because exports are only carried out without going through the process of processing and refining (smelter).
However, after Indonesian President Joko Widodo (Jokowi) asked to ban nickel ore export activities and the mandatory development of smelters in the country. The value of nickel exports skyrocketed 10 times to around US$ 30 billion.
“2019-2022 our export value of nickel will be US$ 30 billion, a 10-fold increase,” said Bahlil in a public lecture at Sebelas Maret University, Surakarta, Central Java, quoted on Thursday (24/8/2023).
As is known, for Indonesia’s action to ban the export of nickel ore abroad, Indonesia received a lawsuit from the European Union (EU) at the World Trade Organization (WTO). In October 2022, Indonesia was declared defeated by the European Union’s lawsuit at the WTO. Currently Indonesia is trying to appeal the lawsuit.
Bahlil said that the reason the European Union sued Indonesia at the WTO was because the world was currently moving towards green energy and environmentally friendly industries. Where, materials to support these things require nickel.
Nickel as it is known for the raw material needs for electric vehicle batteries. “There are four raw materials for this battery; nickel, cobalt, manganese and lithium,” said Bahlil.
Indonesia has three of the four raw materials for electric batteries, namely nickel, cobalt and manganese. Bahlil said that only lithium is not owned by Indonesia.
Therefore, he said that other countries, including the European Union, are not willing to develop the country’s industry. This is what led to the tackle on the WTO. “This is world foreign policy to force us not to develop our industry in Indonesia,” said Bahlil.
[Gambas:Video CNBC]
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(pgr/pgr)