Jakarta. Sovereign wealth fund Danantara said Monday that it was still reviewing the feasibility of the government-backed projects worth over $38 billion projects in the country’s downstream industries before deciding to make some investments.

Energy Minister Bahlil Lahadalia had drawn up a list of 18 projects worth $38.63 billion that Indonesia wishes to work on with Danantara’s help. The projects span various resources, all aimed at getting Indonesia to move up the value chain by producing higher-valued goods. Bahlil, who leads the downstream development task force, had handed over these projects’ pre-feasibility documents to Danantara in late July. The ball remains in Danantara’s court, as the fund -- which now controls  all state-owned enterprises -- intends to only finance projects that they deem “investment-ready”. According to Danantara’s chief executive officer Rosan Roeslani, the reviews are still ongoing, while admitting that some projects required “fine-tuning”. 

"We will keep in touch with the Energy Ministry," Rosan told the press in Jakarta.

“There are some projects that need some adjustments, including on the projections,” he said.

Rosan did not disclose the timeframe of when the reviews would likely finish, nor the details of the projects that still needed some improvements. Bahlil’s aide Ahmad Erani Yustika not long ago told reporters that the review would likely finish by the end of the year, saying that Indonesia would like to actually execute the plan “as soon as possible”. 

A few days ago, Bahlil said the 18 projects could directly create “almost 300,000 jobs” within the targeted industries. It is expected to generate a million jobs in indirect employment, thus possibly spurring a more equitable growth in regions outside Java. 

Past media reports showed that some of the projects included coal gasification, palm oil-based oleofood, and sustainable aviation fuel based on cooking oil. When Danantara received the pre-feasibility study documents, Rosan said at the time that the fund was open to partnering with both state-run and private-owned firms in financially backing the projects.

According to government’s estimates, the resource-rich Indonesia needs up to $618 billion investments to develop the downstream industries of its minerals, oil, forestry, fishery, marine, and plantation commodities, by 2040. Indonesia needs $498.4 billion in investments to turn its raw minerals and coal into higher valued goods. Indonesia began this budget-heavy industrialization with nickel -- a key ingredient in electric vehicle battery production. The Southeast Asian country had stopped exporting unprocessed nickel in 2020, only wanting to sell half-finished or finished goods made from the silvery white metal. The policy has ruffled Europe’s feathers, but became a major economic driver. Indonesia’s nickel derivative exports only reached $3.3 billion in 2017, but soared to $33.9 billion last year.

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