The Indonesian government is currently intensifying communication with India regarding a planned strategic cooperation in the rare earth downstream sector. The primary focus of these exploratory talks is mastering the separation and refining technologies of strategic minerals, which are projected to become the backbone of the nation's future industries.
Minister of Higher Education, Science, and Technology (Mendiktisaintek), Brian Yuliarto, revealed that this collaboration covers not only research aspects but also includes a technology transfer scheme for the magnet industry. Indonesia views India's technical capabilities as a crucial asset to accelerate the government's ambition in constructing domestic processing facilities for high-value commodities.
As a concrete step, a delegation from PT Perusahaan Mineral Nasional (Perminas) together with the National Research and Innovation Agency (BRIN) conducted a series of technical visits to India. These intensive meetings aimed to map out the most advantageous collaboration opportunities, both in terms of investment and industrial infrastructure development within Indonesia.
Furthermore, Brian emphasized that the government is committed to ensuring that the construction of processing plants takes place directly within the country to increase the added value of strategic minerals. Although the cooperation scheme is still being formulated, the government targets this synergy to strengthen Indonesia's position in the global rare earth supply chain.
