Jakarta (ANTARA) – Head of the Presidential Staff Office Dudung Abdurachman called for an integrated rare earth elements ecosystem to strengthen Indonesia's resilience and mineral downstreaming.“Rare earth elements should be viewed as part of the national industrial value chain, not merely as a mining activity,” Abdurachman said Monday.At a coordination meeting on critical rare earth mineral export governance, he said control of the supply chain was crucial to Indonesia's global competitiveness, economic resilience and national defense.Indonesia has estimated reserves of about 350,000 tons of rare earth oxides, but the potential has yet to generate optimal added value for the economy, he said.Rare earth elements are essential raw materials for strategic industries, including semiconductors, electric vehicles, batteries, renewable energy and advanced defense technologies.The greatest added value is created after separation and refining, when rare earth elements are transformed into permanent magnets and other high-tech industrial components, he said.Abdurachman said the Presidential Staff Office was overseeing rare earth downstreaming policies to ensure a strong legal foundation and business certainty.Domestic governance still faces challenges, including limited extraction and refining technology, inadequate regulation and oversight, weak supply-chain tracking, and resource leakage through low-value exports.“Downstreaming should create a national industrial ecosystem that produces high-value products, strengthens technological capabilities, creates quality jobs and enhances Indonesia's global competitiveness,” Abdurachman said.