Minister of Energy and Mineral Resources (ESDM) Bahlil Lahadalia said that he has submitted a proposal to President Prabowo Subianto requesting a portion of the funds from the Sovereign Wealth Fund of Nusantara Investment Management Agency (Danantara) to be allocated for downstream industry development.
"We have submitted the proposal to President on several occasions to consider investing part of the Danantara fund in order to provide added value in the downstream sector," said Bahlil after attending the Indonesian Economic Summit 2025 at the Shangrilla Hotel, Jakarta, Wednesday, February 19, 2025.
Bahlil remained tight-lipped about the investment amount he proposed. He only stated that the request was made to secure the sovereignty of the Indonesian people by providing added value to natural resources. In addition, he mentioned the collaboration between Danantara and several countries, one of which is the United Arab Emirates.
"[The collaboration] with several other countries is underway," he claimed.
Over the next four years, Bahlil planned to carry out downstream industry development for 28 commodities. "There are 26 to 28 commodities that will be encouraged, especially fisheries, forestry, agriculture, oil and gas, and mining," he said when met at his office on Friday, January 10, 2025.
The 28 downstreaming commodities include coal, nickel, tin, copper, bauxite, iron stacy, gold and silver, lead asphalt, sand, manganese, cobalt, metals, petroleum, natural gas, palm oil, coconut, rubber, biofuel, crumb rubber, pine resin, shrimp, fish, crab, seaweed, salt, nutmeg, cocoa, and tilapia.
Meanwhile, Danantara is an investment institution initiated by President Prabowo Subianto. The head of state revealed that the initial funding for Danantara is projected to reach USD 20 billion.
"The initial funding this year will reach USD 20 billion. I think this will be a transformative step. We plan to start around 15 to 20 billion-dollar projects, which will create significant added value for our country," he said while speaking as a keynote speaker at the International World Government Summit online on Thursday, February 13, 2025.
On that occasion, Prabowo also mentioned that Danantara will be launched on February 24, 2025. "We are preparing for the launch of our latest Danantara Indonesia, our sovereign wealth fund, which according to our initial evaluation will manage more than USD 900 billion in assets under management," he said, as monitored via the President's Secretariat YouTube on Friday, February 14, 2025.
