VOI - Voice of Indonesia | RRI - Radio Republik Indonesia

Coordinating Minister for Maritime Affairs and Investment Luhut B. Pandjaitan met with Japan's Minister of Economy, Trade, and Industry (METI) Hagiuda Kochi in Jakarta, on Tuesday (11-1-2022) ).

The meeting of the two friendly countries discussed cooperation potential in the fields of green energy, fisheries, the environment, and the petrochemical industry.

"In the past seven years, Indonesia has changed a lot, development is almost evenly distributed in western and eastern Indonesia," said Coordinating Minister Luhut at the beginning of his presentation.

Coordinating Minister Luhut also explained the development of downstream industries as an investment direction in Indonesia at this time.

"Currently the downstream industry for nickel is more focused on developing stainless steel which is a component of making Lithium batteries," he said.

Regarding this, Coordinating Minister Luhut assured that Indonesia has a very large stock of nickel ore with a total upstream production capacity of up to 12 million tons/year.

"The downstream industry has changed the structure of the Indonesian economy, thereby reducing dependence on raw commodities," added Coordinating Minister Luhut.

Furthermore, Coordinating Minister Luhut also offered to invest in the construction of a hydroelectric power plant in Kalimantan, which so far is capable of producing 11,000 megawatts of electricity.

"Last December, President Jokowi inaugurated the groundbreaking of a 30-hectare green industrial park," he explained.

Finally, Coordinating Minister Luhut suggested that the two countries create a technical discussion scheme that meets regularly so that they can discuss intensively the points of cooperation between the two countries.

On the same occasion, Minister Koichi started his remarks by thanking the Government of Indonesia for making the decision regarding the coal transport ship announced on January 10. Minister Koichi welcomed the suggestion by Coordinating Minister Luhut for regular dialogue between the two countries.

Then, the Japanese trade minister explained about the development of Japanese companies' investment in the ammonia industry in Bintuni Bay, West Papua. 

Minister Koichi also briefly expressed his country's desire to cooperate with Indonesia in the development of batteries for solar power plants. And, finally, he hopes that the two countries can cooperate more closely in the future.

The meeting was also attended by the Indonesian Minister of Trade Muhammad Lutfi, the Director-General of METI Japan Matsuo Takehiko, and the Japanese Ambassador Kanasugi Kenji. (VOI)