Remarks of President of the Republic of Indonesia at the Opening of BNI Investor Daily Summit 2024, at the Jakarta Convention Center (JCC) Senayan, Jakarta, October 8, 2024

Bismillahirrahmanirrahim,

Assalamu’alaikum warahmatullahi wabarakatuh,
Good morning,
Peace and prosperity be upon us,
Om swastiastu,
Namo buddhaya,
Greetings of virtue.

Distinguished Heads and Leaders of state institutions,
Distinguished Ministers of the Indonesia Onward Cabinet, [Acting] Governor of Jakarta,
Honorable President Director of BNI, along with the board of commissioners and the big family of BNI,
Honorable Executive Chairperson of B Universe, Mr. Enggartiasto Lukita;

Ladies and Gentlemen,

In twelve days, the transition of national leadership will take place.

On October 20, General (Ret.) Prabowo Subianto will be inaugurated as President of the Republic of Indonesia.

To my delight, since he was announced as the president-elect, the preparations leading up to the inauguration have been going well in terms of work plans, programs, and many more.

Mr. Prabowo is almost always present at every plenary meeting, limited meeting, regardless of the topic.

Previously, it was only for defense matters, but after becoming the president-elect, he attended all limited meetings, plenary meetings, so the plans for the top programs to be implemented under Prabowo’s presidency are well prepared by the current ministers.

For instance, for the draft of the 2025 State Budget, I don’t know how many times Mr. Prabowo met with Minister of Finance, Sri Mulyani. Almost every week, almost every day they meet to prepare it.

As Mr. Enggar said earlier, this leadership transition will run smoothly, God willing. So after the inauguration of the president and the entire cabinet, they can immediately begin executing existing programs without any delay.

In 2014, it took me 1-1.5 years to consolidate, meaning that we lost 1-1.5 years of our time. Therefore, I am very pleased and hope that the transition process of this government, which is only 12 days away, will go well and run smoothly.

A smooth transition of government is necessary to maintain our optimism, to maintain stability in both politics and the economy. Although nowadays, if you tell a story about optimism, no one would applaud. However, if the story is about pessimism, we get a lot of applause. That is how our world works these days. When we talk about optimism, no one applauds. However, if we speak about pessimism, negativism, the applause is very loud and it only started to sell recently.

As we know, we have now entered “the Asian century”, a shift from the West to Asia. The economic growth is also shifting to Asia. And it is predicted, estimated, that in Asia there will be three new economic powers, three economic superpowers; India, China, and Indonesia. Again, all three are in Asia.

Nevertheless, do remember that there are many challenges and conditions that need to be addressed in order for these three countries to become economic superpowers. Therefore, it is essential to be optimistic, to maintain optimism.

We face, I think we all are aware of, a global economic slowdown that is estimated to remain at 2.7-2.8 percent on average. And, we should be grateful that Indonesia is still growing above 5 percent growth. In addition, geopolitical tension has escalated.

The Ukraine war has not settled, and now the Israel-Palestine war, Israel-Lebanon war, and Iran-Israel war. The world’s economic is getting more and more uncertain. That is why, as I said earlier, optimism is necessary. Let us not be caught up in pessimism because of global uncertainty, because of geopolitics, and many others.

Also, on the impacts of climate change, which is what we will face in the future, we need everyone to mitigate and prepare for this. And in our country, matters related to productivity, on how to increase the ICOR, productivity, will be a major homework for the next administration.

On the other hand, we have great capital, we have great asset. The economic growth is maintained above 5 percent. In the Q2 of 2024, we still grew by 5.08 percent. We can keep inflation under control at 2-3 percent, which is also a great capital.

Consumer confidence, I got the numbers this morning, remains at an optimistic level at 124.4. Our spending index also enjoys a growing trend. If we look at the Q3 of 2024, it was at 234.8, while the Q3 of 2023, it stood at 145.8. It means that on a year-on-year basis, the increase is very high.

Currently, our GDP per capita has reached [US$]5,060. We expect the next five years to be above [US$]7,000, the next ten years to be above [US$]9,000, and so on. This is what we have to maintain. As long as our economic growth can be above 5 percent or as Mr. Prabowo often said, can reach the target of 8 percent, it will speed up our country Indonesia to join the developed countries.

Personally, I have said it repeatedly, first, downstreaming is crucial, added value is vital. But secondly, digitalization is also of great importance. One is downstreaming and the second is digitalization.

On digitalization, we must have a data center as soon as possible. Secondly, data analytics that will allow us to analyze numbers and others in a short time. Also, digital infrastructure is necessary. And on digital payment system, specifically for the banking sector, I believe you have explored it.

I want to talk again about downstreaming. I frequently talk about nickel. The recent progress, I am delighted to see nickel ore turn into nickel pig iron, then into nickel matte and stainless steel. Then, into spoons, pots, pipes, and others. Then the nickel ore goes to Hpal [process], then becomes precursors, cathodes, and battery cells. We’ve seen this happen. It means that these goods are being produced domestically as a result of our downstreaming policy. The leap is evident from US$1.4-2 billion before the nickel ban to US$34.8 billion, which is a tremendous leap.

After nickel, we proceeded to copper. Just two weeks ago, we inaugurated a very large smelter owned by PT Amman in Sumbawa that can produce approximately 900,000 tons of copper concentrate. Then, we opened another smelter owned by PT Freeport Indonesia that can produce 3 million tons of copper concentrate. I sometimes imagine, 3 million copper concentrates, very massive, with an investment of Rp56 trillion. With PT Amman, it’s Rp21 trillion. The whole thing becomes goods. Later, we can enter the derivative industry to make copper foil, cable and others. It’s the second half. If this can be done, the leap will be very visible, the value from how much to how much will be very visible. And also bauxite, two weeks ago we opened MIND ID, our SOE, in Mempawah, West Kalimantan.

After one by one, our work is completed, it must be followed up by its derivative industries. So that later, once again, we will get the added value. After nickel, copper and bauxite, we will move to tin and others.

And I am thrilled to see, after PT Freeport is in production, how many tons of copper, how many tons of gold we will get in a year. It will all be visible. We predict that we will get 50 to 60 tons of gold a year. Previously, for more than 50 years, because we have not taken over PT Freeport, we did not know where the gold went, 50 tons of gold per year.

Because our population is enormous, I believe that labor-intensive downstreaming should be encouraged, whether it is related to agriculture, marine, food, everything. It should be encouraged so that added value will be generated. Coffee should not be exported as raw material. Cocoa should not be exported as raw material. Pepper should not be exported as raw material. Patchouli should not be exported as raw material. We have 1.2 million hectares of coffee plantations, 1.4 million hectares of cocoa, 172 thousand hectares of pepper, and 12 thousand hectares of patchouli. But if we develop them, replant them, expand them, and we have the industry for food, cosmetics, beverages and so on, the added value will be generated and we must push for it. Don’t let it happen by itself, but rather push it to happen. If we stop [the exports], we have to stop with all the risks.

And, our biggest strength in the future will be in seaweed. Because we have more than 80,000 kilometers of coastal beaches and the people who live on them are our people, our fishermen who must be empowered. If we can proceed with a good tactical plan, with a good tactical strategy, seaweed can be used as organic fertilizer, cosmetics, food, and finally bioavtur. This will have a huge impact on the people and increase the added value. Hence, the value, the numbers that we want to achieve as mentioned earlier, will actually be reached.

And, our country must be bold to go our own way. We must be brave to take our own path. Don’t follow global trends that sometimes lead us into competitions that are difficult for us as we have our own core competencies, our own strengths. If we stay focused and have a tactical plan, a tactical strategy, I believe that what I said earlier, “the Asian century” and us becoming a superpower can actually be a reality.

This concludes my remarks.

By saying bismillahirrahmanirrahim, I hereby officially open the BNI Investor Daily Summit 2024.

I thank you.
Wassalamu’alaikum warahmatullahi wabarakatuh.

(FI/EP)