Luhut Insists That Next Govt Must Continue the Downstream Program
Editor
29 October 2023 12:08 WIB
TEMPO.CO, Jakarta - Coordinating Minister for Maritime Affairs and Investment Luhut Binsar Pandjaitan stated that the next government must continue the downstream program. The reason is, he believes that the downstream policy will bring many benefits to the people of the country.
"Of course it needs improvements here and there, but it's a program that shouldn't start from zero again," said Luhut, quoted from a post on his personal Instagram, @luhut.pandjaitan, Saturday, October 28 2023.
He also emphasized that downstream policies in various fields need to be continued. For example, downstreaming the seaweed industry. According to him, the results of downstream seaweed can produce organic fertilizer products, oil, degradable plastic, and can help reduce marine pollution.
"There's a lot of downstreaming. So it's not just nickel, there's seaweed too," said Luhut. Studies regarding downstream seaweed are also very advanced, including those carried out in Buleleng, Bali. Therefore, he suggested that the government in the next period could continue and perfect this study.
Luhut also underlined that the president elected in 2024 must look for experts in these fields. For this reason, according to Luhut, Indonesia needs leaders who have strong character.
This means, he said, Indonesia needs leaders who have the courage to say 'no' or 'yes' for clear reasons. "Because if a leader doesn't have a strong character, people will be swayed," said Luhut.
Previously, the Minister of Investment and Head of the Investment Coordinating Board, Bahlil Lahadalia, mentioned that there were presidential candidates who did not want to continue the downstream program launched by President Jokowi. This was conveyed by Bahlil at a press conference on investment realization for the third quarter of 2023 at the Ministry of Investment Office today, Friday, October 20, 2023.
In line with Luhut, Bahlil also hopes that the next Indonesian president will continue the downstream program that has been running for the last few years. According to Bahlil, Indonesia will return to the colonial era if downstreaming is not continued. "In the Dutch era, we were controlled by the VOC because we only took raw materials and then exported them (to the Netherlands)," said Bahlil.
RIANI SANUSI PRINCESS | ANDIKA DWI
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