The Indonesian government is currently exploring strategic technological collaboration with India to optimize the downstream processing of rare earth elements (REE). This step is taken to boost the added value of national mineral commodities, which are considered to have very high economic potential.
Minister of Higher Education, Science, and Technology (Mendiktisaintek), Brian Yuliarto, revealed that this plan is a follow-up to the meeting between President Prabowo Subianto and Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi. The cooperation is outlined in a Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) between the Non-Ferrous Materials Technology Development Centre, MIDWEST Ltd., and PT Perusahaan Mineral Nasional (Perminas).
Brian explained that the communication process is currently in an intensive exploration phase. Teams from Perminas and the Mineral Industry Agency (BIM) have visited India to study the country's technological capabilities, particularly regarding separation, refining processes, and downstream industry development such as rare-earth magnet production.
Although technical details regarding the cooperation scheme have not been publicly announced, the government reaffirmed its commitment to building domestic processing plants. The main focus of this initiative is to create an independent industrial ecosystem capable of processing Indonesia's rare earth mineral resources domestically, rather than merely exporting raw materials.
This effort is expected to pave the way for significant technology transfer for Indonesia's mineral industry sector, given India's progress in rare metal refining technology, which is crucial for high-tech industries in the future.
