Jakarta. Indonesia is planning to have the government to entirely control the country’s rare earths, according to Energy Minister Bahlil Lahadalia on Monday. 

Mineral-rich Indonesia has been trying to create added value to its resources -- an economic policy that has been in full swing since Former President Joko “Jokowi” Widodo’s rule. His successor Prabowo Subianto has also just set up the Mineral Industry Agency to help carry out the plan.

“We [the Energy Ministry] will be in charge of the policies related to the upstream sector [of the rare earth industry]. Managing rare earths won’t be something that is open to the public, but it’s the state that will take care of it,” Bahlil said at Jakarta’s State Palace, as reported by the news outlet Antara.

The regulations for this state-controlled rare earth management are also underway, according to Bahlil. He added: “Because the price of rare earths are very high.”

Prabowo has appointed Higher Education Minister Brian Yuliarto to lead the mineral industry body. Bahlil said that this new agency would focus on industrial research dedicated to how Indonesia can transform the minerals, including rare earths, into more refined, higher-value products.

“So we, the Energy Ministry, will focus on preparing the raw materials. It is the Mineral Industry Agency that will be in charge of deciding on which products we [Indonesia] should produce,” Bahlil said.

State Secretary Prasetyo Hadi told reporters that the freshly minted body would stand alone. In other words, it would fall under neither the Energy nor Higher Education Ministries.

“We should take advantage of our natural resources, and that’s why we see the need for this body, … that will take care of the research,” Prasetyo said.

"His [Brian's] position as the higher education minister is among the top reasons why we appointed him. ... So it'd be easier for us to partner with research bodies and universities."

Add as a preferred source on Google +