VOI - Voice of Indonesia | RRI - Radio Republik Indonesia

President Joko Widodo conveyed several priorities for the development of the coal derivative industry.

"There are several priorities that can be worked on, such as the coal gasification program or DME to gasify coal into syngas, which is needed by the petrochemical industry and DME which is very important as a substitute for LPG where our LPG is still imported so that it can reduce our LPG imports," said President Joko Widodo at the Presidential Palace Bogor, Friday.

President Jokowi conveyed this in a limited meeting on the topic Accelerating the Increasing Value of Coal through video conference.

DME or dimethyl ether was developed as an alternative fuel to replace LPG while syngas, which stands for "synthetic gas", is an energized gas produced through the coal gasification process to be used as raw material for chemical industries such as fertilizers and petrochemicals, electricity and city gas.

"I ask that the road map for the optimization of domestic coal be really accelerated by the application of environmentally friendly technology," added the President.

President Jokowi asked his ministers to determine the downstream product strategy he wanted to develop.

"So it is clear which direction we will go. How much will be converted into gas, how much will be converted into petrochemicals, and the areas that will be developed into the downstream coal industry anywhere, so it is clear what direction we are in," said the President.

The President also ordered that areas with reserves of coal resources should be sufficient to guarantee coal supply in the downstream coal industry.

"Previously, I would like to remind you that we all have to shift from exporting countries for raw materials and one of them is coal to become an industrial country that capable of processing raw materials into finished or semi-finished goods.

"I think this is a big strategy that we must be consistent in implementing it," said the President.

For this reason, the Indonesian coal industry is asked to move into the development of the coal derivative industry, starting from the "upgrading" quality improvement industry, manufacturing coal briquettes, manufacturing coke (high-calorie coal), coal liquefaction, coal gasification to molten coal mixture.

"I am sure that by developing this coal derivative industry, it can increase the added value of commodities many times over, reduce the 'core' of raw materials needed by domestic industries such as the steel industry, the petrochemical industry and no less importantly we can create as many jobs as possible," explained the President. (Antaranews)