The Coordinating Minister for Maritime Affairs and Investment (Menko Marves), Luhut Binsar Pandjaitan, is scheduled to meet with officials from the International Monetary Fund (International Monetary Fund/ IMF ) in August 2023.
"Maybe there will be a meeting with the IMF in early August. We will try to arrange it on the sidelines of Pak Luhut's working visit to Washington DC in order to meet his partners there," said Spokesman for the Coordinating Minister for Maritime Affairs, Jodi Mahardi to Kompas. com, Monday (3/7/2023).
There Luhut will explain the policy of the Government of Indonesia regarding the ban on the export of nickel ore. This is for the sake of encouraging domestic downstreaming.
Although the IMF is still trying to get the Government of Indonesia to consider this policy, the firm stance that has been decided will remain consistent.
"I want to emphasize that the downstream policy implemented by the Indonesian government is part of the commitment to increase the added value of Indonesia's natural resources," said Jodi.
"We respect the views of the IMF, but as a sovereign country, the Government of Indonesia believes that this policy is the best for the people and the Indonesian economy. The government remains committed to continuing this program," he continued.
Previously, the IMF asked the Government of Indonesia to consider gradually removing the nickel export ban policy .
This was stated in the document IMF Executive Board Concludes 2023 Article IV Consultation with Indonesia.
The document states that the Executive Director of the IMF is aware that Indonesia is focusing on downstreaming various raw commodities such as nickel.
This step is considered to be in line with Indonesia's ambition to create added value to export commodities.
"Attract foreign direct investment and facilitate the transfer of skills and technology," the document said, quoted Tuesday (27/6/2023).
However, the Executive Director of the IMF notes that policies must be based on an analysis of further costs and benefits. Then, policies must also be formed while minimizing the impact of spillover effects to other areas.
Image source: KOMPAS.com/Isna Rifka Sri Rahayu
