Industry players in the mining sector have high hopes for the newly appointed Minister of Energy and Mineral Resources (ESDM), Bahlil Lahadalia, who took over from Arifin Tasrif on Monday, August 19, 2024.

Hendra Sinadia, Executive Director of the Indonesia Mining Association (IMA), noted that the new ESDM minister has a lot of responsibilities in the energy sector in a short period. However, he believes that Bahlil will focus on strategic projects in the mineral sector.

"Given the short time, it seems that the new Minister will focus on ensuring that national strategic projects, particularly in mineral downstreaming, are well-executed and on improving governance to attract investment," Hendra told Bisnis on Monday, August 19, 2024.

He is optimistic that Bahlil's extensive experience and knowledge from his tenure as Minister of Investment/Head of BKPM will be invaluable in addressing the issues and challenges faced by both the government and industry players.

As such, Hendra is confident that Bahlil can overcome obstacles to expedite the realization of investments in mineral downstreaming projects. In his new role, Bahlil is expected to take the necessary strategic steps.

On the other hand, Gita Mahyarani, Executive Director of the Indonesian Coal Mining Association (APBI), expressed hope that the new ESDM minister would address several pending tasks in the mineral downstreaming sector during his brief term.

"Considering the limited time or term in office, the focus might be more on completing unfinished tasks, especially since we will soon see how the new government's policies unfold in October," she said in a separate interview.

Gita also highlighted the importance of clarifying the role of the Managing Institution Partners (MIP) needed to ensure a fair and adequate domestic coal supply.

"The mineral downstreaming projects are currently in the feasibility study phase, so we need to monitor their progress," she explained.

Previously, former ESDM Minister Arifin Tasrif mentioned that there is still significant potential in mineral downstreaming that can be leveraged, including nickel, copper, aluminum, and tin. These commodities need to be optimized to their fullest potential.

"Nickel, because we are one of the largest nickel export producers in the world. Then copper and aluminum for infrastructure, electricity, and other needs, as well as tin," he said.