Remarks of President of the Republic of Indonesia during Employee Gathering of PT Freeport Indonesia, Mimika Regency, Papua Province, August 31, 2022

Assalamu’alaikum warahmatullahi wabarakatuh,
Good evening,
May peace be upon us all.

Distinguished President Commissioner of PT Freeport Indonesia Mr Richard Adkerson,
Distinguished Ms Kathleen and President Director of PT Freeport Indonesia Mr Tony Wenas, along with members of Board of Directors and Board of Commissioners,

Ladies and Gentlemen, the big family of PT Freeport Indonesia who are present this evening in this room,

This morning I just inaugurated the Papua Football Academy which is 100 percent supported by PT Freeport Indonesia. After the National Games (PON) in November last year, I invited Mr President Director Tony Wenas, “Mr. Toni, I ask for commitment to human resources development in Papua so we will have talents in sports, especially football, and big stadiums in Jayapura and in Mimika can all be productive. The coaches should be high qualified foreign coaches so that football talents from Papua can commence their training at the age of 12 and 13 before joining [the National Team] U-14, U-16, and U-19 and becoming the best football players at the national and the global levels,”

This morning I played football with 12 and 13 year old children. I haven’t changed clothes and haven’t showered so now I’m wearing a jacket because it’s surprisingly very cold here. It is higher than 2,000 [meters above sea level] here.

Amid the global situation full of uncertainty due to COVID-19 pandemic in all countries, the war broke out, causing an energy crisis, food crisis, and financial crisis. We have to be careful about this.

We should be grateful that our country recorded an economic growth of 5.44 percent in the second quarter. We were able to record growth and controlled inflation at 4.9 percent. Later I would like to talk to Mr Richard about growth and inflation in America. I believe that we are still better.

Second, I am glad because the revenue generated by PT Freeport Indonesia last year, if I am not mistaken, was around US$ 7.5 billion. This is a very large number.

We have high expectation with availability of the 5G Mining. I will see how the company manages a mining with 5G System. I will see it tomorrow. I think, with this high altitude, 2,000-3,000 meters above sea level, it was very complicated to build PT Freeport in its early days. However, it turned out that it could be done. I initially thought that all those present tonight would be expatriates, it turned out that there are many Indonesian people here and many are from Papua.

Third, I am glad that 68 percent of the Gross Regional Domestic Product (GRDP) in Mimika Regency comes from Freeport. Thus, all of you have a significant contribution to Mimika regency, namely 68 percent, and significant contribution to GRDP in Papua, namely 34 percent.

I call on Mr. Tony Wenas to manage the Freeport prudently because the company brings a significant impact not only to the company, but also to Mimika regency and Papua province. Be careful about this. Once growth of this company declines, growth in Papua and in Mimika will also decline. Be careful, because after I checked the numbers, the contribution was enormous.

That concludes my remarks this evening.

If anyone wants my jacket, raise your hand. It seems that no one raises their hand. Come on, I’m not going to ask you to mention names of fish. Raise your hand, and I will immediately give you the jacket I’m wearing. If you don’t want it, it’s all right.

The jacket is only for those who have a thin body like mine. Those who have more weight should not raise your hand because the size [of the jacket] will not fit. The one that seems very excited, please come to the stage. Your body size seems similar to mine. My jacket size is M.

That concludes my remarks on this auspicious occasion.

Good luck with your work and once again, I thank you for your hard work.

Wassalamu’alaikum warahmatullahi wabarakatuh.

(RI/EP)