Governor Sherly Details Impact of Downstreaming on North Maluku's Economy

North Maluku Governor Sherly Tjoanda has revealed that the presence of the mineral downstreaming industry, particularly nickel, has had a significant impact on the regional economy. In addition to driving high economic growth, downstreaming has created a multiplier effect that stimulates various community business sectors. Industrial activity in the nickel processing area has generated substantial economic turnover.

“In terms of job creation, the IWIP area alone has created around 100,000 jobs. That is a very significant figure for us in North Maluku. And the economy runs because 100,000 people need to be fed,” Sherly told CNBC Indonesia on Friday (12/6/2026).

According to Sherly, the increase in the number of workers in the industrial area has spurred the growth of various local businesses, ranging from boarding houses, trade, and culinary ventures to transportation and other services. This condition has provided broader economic benefits to communities around the industrial area.

“However, there is still homework for North Maluku because most of the foodstuffs are not yet supplied from North Maluku. They still come from neighbours around North Maluku, and that remains our challenge,” she said.

She assessed that improving the quality of human resources is key to enabling more native-born North Maluku children to fill strategic positions in the mineral processing industry sector. “Local children are getting jobs, but certainly not all of them yet. That is also our task: to improve the capacity of North Maluku’s human resources so that more of our local workforce can be absorbed. Because currently, workers from all over Indonesia are still employed at IWIP,” she added.