Antara, Jakarta – President Joko "Jokowi" Widodo on Tuesday asserted that smelters are a stepping stone and future foundation to elevate Indonesia as a developed nation.

His statement was broadcasted in a video uploaded by the Presidential Secretariat's Office on Youtube after monitoring the construction of Freeport Indonesia's smelter plant in East Java's Gresik.

"Smelters are our stepping stone into becoming a developed nation. We used to rely on consumption but now we will rely on production," said the President on June 20.

Jokowi believes that the presence of a number of smelter plants in the country will elevate the country's competitiveness. For this reason, the President encouraged the production of the smelter plant to be integrated with other mining commodities spread across various regions in the country.

Currently, Indonesia has nickel mining in Sulawesi, bauxite in Bintan and West Kalimantan, tin in Bangka Belitung, and copper foil mining plants in Gresik. He aims to consolidate these mineral resources to boost Indonesia's potential in the global electric vehicle industry.

"This will be integrated into EV batteries, lithium batteries, and that will be integrated again as electric vehicles," said Jokowi, state-owned news agency Antara reported.

The smelter in Gresik, East Java, is undergoing 72 percent progress and is aimed to be completed in 2024.

Source: https://en.tempo.co/read/1739633/jokowi-lauds-smelters-as-foundation-towards-developed-nation-statu