Industries in the Ketapang Regency, West Kalimantan, have been altering the region by creating mining investments and enhancing downstream processing. Ketapang Regency has the potential to extend from the seas and plantations to bauxite mining. Mining investment, as reported by West Kalimantan Investment Coordinating Board and One-Stop Service, included the Realisation of Domestic Investment (PMDN) as well as Foreign Investment (PMA) in 2024, totalling IDR 31.47 trillion (USD 1.94 billion). One of the significant investments made to PMDN and PMA by Ketapang Regency was valued at IDR 8.60 trillion (USD 530.86 million).
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Extended downstream processing and mining investments at Ketapang Regency will have broader impacts, including:
- Job absorption and regional income
- New business opportunities
- Enhanced income of the surrounding communities
Owing to the development process within the region, investments have become crucial, especially after the need to undertake operational activities for processing and refining bauxite plants to alumina smelters.
Tian Deyong, the Director of PT Well Harvest Winning (WHW) Alumina stated, "Out of a total of 3,267 WHW employees, 2,817 or 86 per cent of them are workers from West Kalimantan."
WHW has continued to transfer technologies for worker training to support higher employment rates in the region. Worker training is provided to Indonesian workers who work mainly in technical tasks, maintenance, and operations.
In terms of the WHW's social responsibility, they have shown thriving support to the fishermen, an important occupation for the residents in Sungai Tengar Hamlet. To date, WHW has provided different assistance to these fishermen with relevant equipment.
"Our company has been able to grow and develop up to now thanks to support from the government and the surrounding community. Therefore, it is our obligation to give back what we have received. We can share with the community" said Tian Deyong, the Director of PT Well Harvest Winning (WHW) Alumina.
Another investment for regional development at Ketapang Regency is the setup and first trial of the alumina plant project, done in association with PT Borneo Alumindo Prima (BAP), which has a total capacity of 1 million tonnes per annum (MTPA). This facility is in Matan Hilir Selatan District, Ketapang Regency, West Kalimantan.
This project has enriched the region with the company's first alumina production, increasing Indonesia's alumina production to 5 million tonnes annually. Moreover, over the next five years, this alumina plant is expected to become the largest alumina producer in Indonesia. This shall also host additional processing facilities for aluminium alloy, billet and slab production.
If the economy grows by processing natural resources that stimulate downstream activities, it will subsequently lead to development in the service sector. Economic growth, partly driven by mining and downstream processing, is also believed to attract regional migration. Migrants will likely be part of the productive workforce, embracing an urban lifestyle that the market responds to.
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