Downstreaming of Indonesia's Mining Industry to Boost Indonesia's Economy

Indonesia continues to promote the optimization of natural resource potential through the downstreaming program of the mining industry.As of 2024, the plan has had a significant impact in building a value-added-based economy, focusing on commodities such as copper, bauxite and silica sand. The downstreaming of the mining industry was initially achieved through the construction of copper and bauxite smelters and the development of silica sand feedstock products. The downstreaming of the mining industry enabled Indonesia to move away from just exporting raw materials and to start producing high value-added products domestically, such as copper cathodes, alumina, and silica sand-based products, which became an important way to achieve the country's economic independence.PT Freeport Indonesia started shipping copper concentrates to specific facilities. The downstreaming of the mining industry has begun to bear fruit in some regions, increasing GDP and local revenues and creating a large number of jobs. However, downstreaming of the mining industry also faces challenges such as limited infrastructure and technology, insufficient skilled labour, fluctuating market demand and negative impacts on the environment, and the Government needs to take strategic measures such as developing human resources, researching and developing technology, applying environmentally friendly technology, diversifying products and strengthening international cooperation.