5 state leaders sought Indonesian coal in January : President

Jakarta (ANTARA) – Five heads of government contacted Indonesia in January this year to request coal exports, President Joko Widodo (Jokowi) has said. “When we stopped coal (exports back) in January, there were five presidents, prime minister, who called me, (saying) ‘President Jokowi, please send the coal as soon as possible, as soon as you can, otherwise we (will be in a bind). Our electricity will go out, our industry will die,’” he remarked in Lenteng Agung, here on Tuesday. He delivered the statement during the opening of the second 2021 National Working Meeting of the Indonesian Democratic Party of Struggle (PDIP).
The government banned coal exports from January 1 to January 31, 2022, a policy that was protested by some importing countries, such as Japan and South Korea. “We know where our strength lies. That time, we stopped exporting cooking oil for domestic needs first, coal also for domestic needs first. There were two presidents and prime ministers who called me too, (saying) ‘Sir, if, within two days, you don’t send (cooking oil), (there) will be socio-political turmoil in my country. Please send them,’” Widodo recalled.
His administration also banned the exports of crude palm oil (CPO) and some of its derivative products from April 28 to May 24, 2022. “I checked, there is a stock of about 3 million tons, then the request was 200 thousand tons. Very well, they were sent, 120 thousand tons has been sent,” he said.
Judging by the reactions of the heads of governments, Indonesia has a great bargaining position in terms of coal, CPO, nickel, and other natural resources, he said.
“But we can’t continue exports of raw materials; that must be stopped. We have to (be assertive) in ceasing exports of raw materials, and then we make finished goods there is industrialization, downstreaming there. That’s our actual, great strength; so there is domestic added value, there are job opportunities in the country,” he added.
“That’s what I often calculate and (this) is also calculated by international institutions; that if we (generate) more than 11 thousand US dollars of income per capita, hopefully, we can get there by 2030, meaning that the (the possibility is there),” he said. (INE)