Press Statement of President of the Republic of Indonesia After Inspecting PT AMMAN Mineral Nusa Tenggara (AMNT) Smelter in West Sumbawa Regency, West Nusa Tenggara Province, June 20, 2023

Today, several ministers and I inspected the progress of the construction of PT Amman smelter in West Sumbawa regency, West Nusa Tenggara province. I want to make sure that the progress is according to the plan and will be completed by the middle of next year. We predicted that it will be completed by mid-2024 based on the results of the latest verification carried out by the team from Ministry of Investment and Ministry of Energy and Mineral Resources which stated that the construction progress has reached above 51 percent.

If all preparations are ready, from the construction and the foundation phase all based on schedule, it will complete in the middle of next year. By having smelters— nickel, copper, bauxite and tin— it will provide the maximum added value to the domestic economy.

I really appreciate PT Amman for building this smelter as it will have a production capacity of 900,000 tons of concentrate to become copper cathode. I have told the officials of the company to carry out industrialization on copper cathode derivative products in order to provide added value and open up as many jobs as possible.

Press
The Government and the public hope there will be continuity of this project, one of which is the establishment of a special economic zone for mining. Can this be realized, Sir?

President of the Republic of Indonesia (Joko Widodo)
We are not just talking about West Sumbawa, not just talking about West Nusa Tenggara, but we are talking about the whole country.[ Major] copper [mining] is in Sumbawa and Papua, while nickel is in Sulawesi and some in North Maluku, tin is in Bangka Belitung, then bauxite is in West Kalimantan and in Bintan, in Riau. The problem is, how to integrate the products produced in these smelters along with its derivative products to become goods, such as, lithium battery, EV battery, and electric cars. That’s the big ecosystem that we hope we can build. That’s what will shift us from a developing country to a developed country. That’s one of them.

Press
Is it to make Indonesia as producer of electric cars, Sir?

President of the Republic of Indonesia (Joko Widodo)
Yes, if we can integrate everything, the goals are to produce EV battery, electric vehicle. Because in the future everything will shift from conservative cars, combustion, to electric cars. This is Indonesia’s opportunity to leapfrog into a developed country. We hope we can integrate all the smelters, all the industries in our country that are scattered in the west, in the east, in the middle. That’s the duty of the state—to make sure that the integration can run well.

(EST/MMB)