Indonesia will appeal to the World Trade Organisation’s (WTO) ruling on a nickel ore trade dispute, President Joko Widodo said on Wednesday.
The European Union had sued Indonesia over its nickel ore export ban.
Indonesia issued a ban on nickel ore exports in 2020 for a downstream development programme that provides more jobs and welfare for its people.
Regarding the export ban, the European Union filed a lawsuit and the WTO dispute settlement body ruled that Indonesia had violated the regulations.
“It doesn’t matter that we lost, I have conveyed it to the minister for an appeal,” Widodo said at an investment meeting in Jakarta, the Indonesian capital.
To boost Indonesia’s economic growth, the Indonesian government made three economic strategies.
These are the green economy, the digitalisation of micro, small and medium enterprises (MSMEs) and the development of downstream industries.
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Minister of Investment, Bahlil Lahadalia, said Indonesia should focus on processing commodities into ready-to-use products, starting from nickel.
According to the Ministry of Investment, Indonesia possesses 21 million tons of nickel, the largest reserve in the world.
Lahadalia said downstream raw nickel into products such as electric car batteries, will add value to the commodity and stimulate economic growth.
Widodo said Indonesia would expand the downstream policy for other commodities such as bauxite and coffee, beyond nickel.
He added that his government was looking for investors to support those programmes.
The country only earned around $1.1 billion from sales of the nickel sector years ago.
But the number multiplied to $20.8 billion in 2021.
This was supported by the downstream policy, triggering a trade balance surplus for months. (Xinhua)
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