Luhut Binsar Pandjaitan urges seaweed downstreaming in Indonesia

Luhut Binsar Pandjaitan, Chairman of Indonesia’s National Economic Council, is calling for the acceleration of seaweed downstreaming to prevent the commodity from being exported solely as a raw material. Speaking at the China-Southeast Asia Forum on Higher Education and Industry Cooperation 2026 in Denpasar, Bali, Luhut emphasized the need to develop value-added products through strengthened technology and processing industries.

Luhut suggested that Indonesia could apply lessons learned from its nickel downstreaming program to the seaweed sector, noting that investment and technology are essential for building a domestic industrial ecosystem. He highlighted the importance of cooperation with China, noting that Chinese investment in Indonesia has exceeded US$70 billion over the last decade.

Beyond physical infrastructure and factory construction, Luhut urged for expanded partnership in research, innovation, and human capital development. He specifically invited Tsinghua University to collaborate with Indonesian stakeholders on research programs and laboratory development to maximize the economic potential of the nation's marine resources.