Over the past decade (2014-2023), Minister of Industry Agus Gumiwang Kartasasmita asserts a consistent upward trend in non-oil and gas processing industry investments, demonstrating sustained investor confidence in Indonesia's promising business environment. The comparison between 2014 and 2023 reveals a substantial increase in investment value, soaring from IDR 186.79 trillion in 2014 to IDR 565.25 trillion in 2023, accumulating to a total of IDR 3,031.85 trillion over the decade. Remarkably, even during the Covid-19 pandemic, investors maintained high confidence in Indonesia. Agus notes a significant surge in manufacturing sector investments from 2019 to 2023. Manufacturing investments, starting at IDR 213.44 trillion in 2019, rose to IDR 259.28 trillion in 2020, followed by further increases to IDR 307.58 trillion in 2022 and IDR 457.60 trillion in 2023.
Optimistic about the growth aligning with the government's push for natural resource downstreaming, particularly in mining, Agus emphasizes President Jokowi's priority of industrial downstreaming. The Minister anticipates continued government efforts in promoting industrial downstreaming, expecting substantial contributions to national revenue through export taxes, royalties, non-tax state revenue (PNBP), and dividends. Agus illustrates the impact of downstreaming using the example of nickel commodities, with their value skyrocketing from IDR 15 trillion annually as raw exports to USD 20.9 billion (approximately IDR 360 trillion) post-industrialization. The most striking investment growth occurred from 2021 to 2023, surging by 48.77%, followed by a 39.18% increase in 2015-2016 and a 24.22% spike in 2014-2015. Agus emphasizes the broad economic impact, including increased employment. The workforce in the non-oil and gas processing industry grew from 15.62 million in 2014 to 19.29 million in August 2023, showing consistent growth except for a temporary decline in 2020 due to the pandemic.
