Coordinating Minister for Maritime Affairs and Investment Luhut Binsar Pandjaitan met with Japan’s Minister of Economy, Trade, and Industry (METI) Hagiuda Koichi on Tuesday to discuss cooperation in green energy, fisheries, environment, and petrochemical industries.
At the meeting, which took place at his office here, Pandjaitan also sought investment from Japan in the construction of hydroelectric power plants in North Kalimantan, which can produce 11 thousand MW of electricity.
“In December 2021, President Jokowi (Joko Widodo) has inaugurated a groundbreaking green industrial park of 30 hectares,” the coordinating minister told Koichi, according to a written statement released here on Tuesday.
Indonesia has changed a lot in the last seven years, he observed. The country’s development is almost evenly distributed in the western and the eastern regions, he added.
Pandjaitan told Koichi that the development of downstream industries is the current investment focus of Indonesia, which is mainly centering its attention on stainless steel, a component for producing lithium.
He also assured that Indonesia has a considerable stock of nickel ore with a total upstream production capacity of up to 12 million tons per year.
“Downstream industries have changed Indonesia’s economic structure, such as reducing dependence on raw commodities,” he added.
The coordinating minister also proposed that the two countries create a scheme for technical discussions to intensively converse about points of cooperation.
Meanwhile, Koichi thanked the Indonesian government for the release of a coal transport ship. He also welcomed the discussion proposal that will involve the government and the private sector.
He then outlined the development of Japanese investment in the ammonia industry in Bintuni Bay, West Papua, stating that the project has reached the feasibility study stage.
Koichi also expressed hope for further cooperation with Indonesia in battery development for solar power plants as well as a closer relationship in the future.
Source: Antara News