Novita Hardini, a member of Commission VII of the Indonesian House of Representatives (DPR RI), emphasized that the goal of large-scale investment is to reduce unemployment and strengthen the regional economy.
This was conveyed by Novita on the sidelines of the working visit of Commission VII of the Indonesian House of Representatives to PT Lotte Chemical Indonesia, Cilegon, Banten, Friday.
"The goal of major investments like this is not only to boost national economic growth but also to ensure that growth is felt equally, even at the grassroots level. Reducing unemployment is a crucial indicator, and this is what we, as representatives of the people, will continue to monitor," Novita said in a statement received in Jakarta.
He said the presence of PT Lotte Chemical Indonesia after its inauguration by President Prabowo Subianto is one of the strategic pillars for the revival of the national petrochemical industry.
According to him, the industry plays a vital role in fulfilling energy and raw material needs, which until now have not been met independently domestically.
"Our visit today is part of our oversight function. We see that much regulatory reform is still needed, particularly regarding import tariffs for raw materials that cannot yet be fully produced domestically," he said.
He also commended Lotte's performance, which has distributed approximately 70 percent of its total production to domestic needs, while the remainder is exported.
This, he said, is an important indicator that the petrochemical industry contributes directly to national development and strengthens the domestic supply chain.
During his visit, he also made several recommendations to strengthen the national petrochemical industry. First, increasing investment in the supply of national raw materials to reduce dependence on imports.
Second, transparency and equal distribution of business actors in the energy supply and trade chain so that it is not dominated by a handful of large parties and equitable distribution of industrial investment to the regions, not only concentrated in large industrial areas such as Cilegon.
This is important to boost the regional economy and reduce unemployment amidst limited regional fiscal capacity.
From the employment side, he highlighted that the number of workers absorbed, around 1,200 people, is not comparable to the large scale of Lotte Chemical Indonesia's investment.
He also encouraged the government to open up opportunities for factory or production branch expansion to other regions such as East Java or Central Java to ensure more even employment distribution.