Remarks of President of the Republic of Indonesia During B20 Summit, Bali Nusa Dua Convention Center, Badung Regency, Bali Province, November 14, 2022

Good afternoon.

Distinguished Prime Minister of Australia Anthony Albanese,

Speaker of the House of Representatives (DPR RI),

Ladies and Gentlemen,

In January this year, I spoke before the B20 at the start of its duty. We were all still in a severe pandemic by then. I said that in every difficulty, in every challenge, there must be an opportunity. Do not be pessimistic. I can recall, that’s my word at that time. Do not be pessimistic.

Fast forward ten months, the pandemic is still here. The war broke out, followed by food crisis, energy crisis, and financial crisis. However, we should be grateful that economic growth which reached 5.44 percent in Q2 and grew stronger at 5.72 percent in Q3. We can also manage inflation rate. In September, inflation rate rose to 5.9 percent due to fuel price hike, while in October our inflation fell to 5.7 percent. Managing Director of the IMF Kristalina said that Indonesia was one of the bright spots in the midst of the gloom of the world economy.

That is why, as I have said often times, we need to constantly implement great strategies.

First, industrial downstreaming. We have begun to discontinue raw materials exports to improve added value, increase state revenue, and create new job opportunities in the country.

We have started the ban of nickel ore exports and the establishment of an electric vehicle (EV) ecosystem, electric batteries for electric cars. I seek cooperation with Prime Minister Anthony Albanese since Australia is rich in lithium, while Indonesia is rich in nickel. If we combine both materials, we can produce EV batteries. We can process the lithium here. Together, let us carry out the downstream in Indonesia.

Second, the development of green economy. As I said earlier many times that Indonesia has enormous new and renewable energy potential reaching 434 thousand megawatts from hydropower, geothermal, solar, wind, and tidal wave. This is an opportunity for investors to establish cooperation with Indonesia to invest and bring in renewable technology because it requires much money to jointly build a green economy in Indonesia.

We have prepared 30 thousand hectares of land in North Kalimantan for green industrial area, which I believe will attract investors to come to produce green products from Indonesia since the Kayan River near the area can produce clean and green energy, with sources from hydropower that can generate up to 13,000 megawatts of electricity.

On digitalization, I called on large businesses to support the small ones. The large ones are willing to develop small, micro-businesses so they are not left behind. For the past three years, we have put small and micro-businesses into digital platforms. And so far, out of 64 million MSMEs, there are 19 million small and micro businesses that have entered digital platforms.

We have set a target to onboard 30 million MSMEs into digital platforms by 2024. I entrust India to continue the efforts to support micro and small businesses.

I wish the best of luck for India’s B20 Presidency next year. I am optimistic that B20 will be more solid and continue to grow.

I thank you.

Good afternoon.

(RIF/EP)