JAKARTA -- Minister of State-Owned Enterprises (BUMN) Erick Thohir received the arrival of two high-ranking Freeport McMoran AS officials, Richard Adkerson and Kathleen Quirk, at the BUMN Ministry office, Jakarta, Tuesday (12/12/2023). Erick said that their second visit was a return visit after Erick went to the United States (US) in the last month.

"This afternoon the arrival of two high-ranking Freeport McMoran AS officials, Richard Adkerson and Kathleen Quirk. This meeting is a follow-up to discussions last November in Washington DC," said Erick via his Instagram account, @erickthohir.

During the meeting, Erick and the two Freeport officials held a number of discussions, one of which was related to smelters. Erick said that together with Adkerson and Quirk they discussed the development of PT Freeport Indonesia's investment and ensured the completion of the smelter construction in Gresik, East Java.

This Thursday (December, 14), the smelter will open and the second phase will be completed in May next year.

The discourse on establishing a smelter or PT Freeport Indonesia processed product refining industry to encourage significant economic growth continues to be discussed.

Lecturer in International Relations from the University of Muhammadiyah Malang (UMM), Havidz Ageng Prakoso, said that there are various benefits that will be obtained if the Papua smelter is realized.

One of them is to compensate the central government for the inequality of development between the center and the regions and minimize the issue of inequality. Since the founding of Indonesia as a unitary state, this has become a fairly central issue and has even become an international issue brought up by activists.

From a global perspective, the discourse on smelter development is in line with the Sustainable Development Goals (SDG's) program. This is especially true if judged from several values that are in line. Some of these include decent work and economic growth, innovation and infrastructure, reduced inequality, and partnerships to achieve goals.

The long process of demanding the construction of a smelter in Papua has been studied intensively. For example, 2021 was the initial stage of a positive signal regarding plans to build a smelter in the Papua region. The central government has formulated development plans between stakeholders, both from PTFI and BUMN.