Indonesia: Grasberg - A Victory for Jokowi

Tom Butcher

October 09, 2017

The agreement between Freeport-McMoRan and Indonesia, announced at the end of August, is good news for President Joko Widodo, often known just as Jokowi. Under it, the U.S. mining company will sell its majority stake in the huge Grasberg copper and gold mine. Freeport’s holding will fall to 49% from 90.64%.

For Jokowi, this is a victory in the long-running fight between Jakarta and foreign mining companies. Over the past several years, Widodo’s government has been trying to secure for the country a greater share of the wealth derived from its considerable mineral wealth. (Back in 2014, to promote development of a local smelting sector, raw nickel exports were banned.)