President Joko Widodo or Jokowi has instructed to speed up the construction of bauxite and tin smelters or smelters in the country. However, Jokowi has not explicitly ordered his aides to issue a policy of banning bauxite and tin in by 2023.
Minister of Energy and Mineral Resources or ESDM Arifin Tasrif said some bauxite and tin smelters are still under construction. Meanwhile, the entity that built the smelter is the owner of a national bauxite and tin mining permit.
"There are a lot of funding issues here that will have to be our concern. We will facilitate the funding issue," Arifin said at the Merdeka Palace, Tuesday (6/12).
In other words, Arifin will help these business actors to get commercial credit with competitive interest. However, Arifin has not received explicit instructions to ban the export of bauxite and tin in the form of raw materials.
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Arifin said the government will still evaluate the impact of the policy of banning bauxite and tin into the country. According to him, the banning policy will be decided by the government.
On the other hand, Arifin has not yet set the imposition of export taxes on nickel ore next year. This policy is one of the mitigations prepared by President Joko Widodo facing the results of the decision of the World Trade Organization or WTO.
For information, the government is optimistic that it will not win a lawsuit against nickel export ban policy at the WTO. Meanwhile, the report on the results of the lawsuit is scheduled to be received by the government in the last quarter of 2022.
"We still want to see the condition of the industry," said Arifin.
Arifin revealed that the government's defense regarding the policy was rejected by the WTO, which means that there is a possibility that Indonesia will be found guilty and violate the provisions of WTO Article XI.1 GATT 1994 and not justified by articles XI.2 and XX (d) of GATT 1994.
He said the government has not thought about implementing an export tax policy or exit duty on nickel ore following a WTO panel ruling that said Indonesia violated provisions related to the nickel ore export ban.
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Earlier, Investment Minister Bahlil Lahadalia said the first step to be taken in fighting the suit was to appeal. Meanwhile, the second way prepared, one of which is to increase the export tax on nickel ore.
"So, go ahead and protest us. Go ahead and take them to the WTO, but the country is sovereign. They have agreed in the G20 on downstreaming," Bahlil said at the State Palace in the official channel of the Presidential Secretariat, Wednesday (30/11).
The government targets the construction of smelters in the mineral and coal subsector to reach 53 units by 2024. The investment value for the construction of the smelter is estimated to reach US$ 21.60 billion or equivalent to Rp 308.7 trillion (exchange rate of Rp 14,295/US$).
Image source: BIRO PERS SEKRETARIAT PRESIDEN
