Danantara Sets Criteria for Downstream Projects: These 3 Points Must Be Met

Jakarta, CNBC Indonesia - The Investment Management Agency (BPI) Danantara has set three investment criteria to promote programmes or projects for developing industrialisation and downstreaming in the country. These three criteria are demand, strategy, and added value to resources.

One of the resource-driven criteria is the downstreaming programme to increase added value.

“If we’ve only been selling our commodities so far, the added value is low; that’s a resources-based economy. Well, an example of what we have with competitive value that’s already been done is, first of all, nickel, and second, CPO,” explained Managing Director of Industrialisation at Danantara, Ardy Mauwin, during the kick-off of PINISI at the Bank Indonesia headquarters in Jakarta on Monday (27/4/2026).

Next is investment driven by demand, where Ardy explained that one example is to replace imports. This initiative stems from Danantara’s observation that current domestic demand is large but dominated by imports.

“The target is, if there’s demand that’s only being served by imports, if we can make certain investments and replace those imports, GDP will rise because we’re reducing imports.”

The final criterion is investment driven by strategy, for instance, in abnormal conditions like the current ones.

“This is usually driven by political turmoil, for example, related to the defence industry, auto industry. Things that will make us a great nation in the future,” he said.

Ardy stated that industrialisation and downstreaming will move Indonesia from the quadrant of a country reliant on natural resources to an industrialised country utilising technology.

“So, Mr Deputy Minister said that the government is like a ship; well, this is our North Star, where we want to go. Why do we want to move from the quadrant of a country that relies on natural resources, a resources-rich nation, towards more capability-driven, towards more technology-driven,” said Ardy during the PINISI kick-off at the Bank Indonesia headquarters in Jakarta on Monday (27/4/2026).

Ardy said that this intention has actually existed since the Soeharto regime or 40 to 50 years ago and will be implemented now.

“Actually, this effort started 40-50 years ago from the time of Mr Soeharto, with Mr Habibie; unfortunately, then there was the monetary crisis in 1998,” explained Ardy.