Remarks of President of the Republic of Indonesia on the Inauguration of the Smelter Production of PT Freeport Indonesia, September 23, 2024

Bismillahirrahmanirrahim,

Assalamu’alaikum warahmatullahi wabarakatuh,

Good afternoon,

May peace be upon us.

Minister of Onward Indonesia Cabinet, Minister of State-owned Enterprises,

Minister of Energy and Mineral Resources, Minister of Investment,

Acting Governor of East Java, Acting Governor of Central Papua; Regent of Gresik,

Chairperson of The Board Freeport-McMoRan Bapak Richard Adkerson, President-Director of PT Freeport Indonesia Bapak Tony Wenas, President and CEO Freeport Ms. Kathleen,

Religious Leaders and Public Figures,

Ladies and Gentlemen,

I recall the challenging and exhausting work over the past ten years of my presidency to attract mining companies to build smelters—a very demanding task.  I remember until [year] 2017, we were negotiating with Pak Richard to agree to build a smelter in Gresik. It was still very tough to negotiate, very tough, because I know that this is not a small investment.

The investment Rp56 trillion is no small money; it’s a significant sum of money. I also understand that companies need to carefully calculate the benefits of building a large smelter In 2018, land preparation began, and once that was completed, I came here for the groundbreaking ceremony to start the construction of the smelter factory. Now, after 30 months, alhamdulillah, thank God, we can officially inaugurate the smelter production.

During my inspection, I realized the area spans more than 100 hectares—104 hectares, to be exact. It’s an enormous site. The investment for construction has reached Rp56 trillion. I have just casually calculated the state revenue, both for central and regional governments. My calculation predicts the revenue will be at the amount of Rp80 trillion form PT Freeport Indonesia, either in the form of dividends, royalties, corporate income tax, employee income tax, regional taxes, export duties, export taxes. For all of these, that is my approximate calculation. It is a huge amount from one industry.

This morning, I also inaugurated a smelter in West Nusa Tenggara. As more companies—two, three, four, five, six—join the operation, our state revenue will grow even further. This will bring in much more than if we were only exporting raw materials.

.

The construction of PT Freeport Indonesia smelter is part of our effort to position Indonesia as an advanced industrial country which processes its own natural resources and, importantly, no longer exports raw materials. As the CEO mentioned earlier, this project will indeed create more job opportunities.

With an investment Rp56 trillion, 1.7 tons of copper concentrate from Papua to Gresik are processed to produce 900 thousand copper cathodes, approximately 50 tons gold, and 210 tons silver – an enormous amount. I believe this large-scale industry will collaborate with many micro-small-and-medium enterprises, such as caterings to become sub-contractors subcontractors involved in various aspects of the smelter operations in Gresik.

We hope the construction of this smelter will soon produce new smelters, copper derivative industries around PT Freeport Indonesia. Some industries begin to produce copper foil.

I think in the future cable factories and others will invest our country, including what Pak Erick Thohir said about selenium – a by-product of copper smelting – that can be used in semiconductor production.

That concludes my today’s remarks.

By saying bismillahirrahmanirrahim, I officially inaugurate the Smelter Production of PT Freeport Indonesia in Gresik Regency, East Java Province today.

Thank you.

Wassalamu’alaikum warahmatullahi wabarakatuh.

(GA/EP)