The third editions of the two fairs were officially opened on Sept. 9 at JIExpo Kemayoran, Jakarta, and will run through Sept. 12.

Co-organized by Messe Düsseldorf Asia and PT Pamerindo Indonesia, part of Informa Markets, GIFA Indonesia and METEC Indonesia are being held alongside the 24th Mining Indonesia exhibition as part of the IEE Series – Engineering Week 2026 lineup.

Occupying more than 8,000 square meters of exhibition space, the event features more than 260 exhibitors from 19 countries, showcasing technologies and solutions for Indonesia and Southeast Asia’s metal industry value chain. The exhibitions are projected to attract more than 6,000 trade visitors, bringing together equipment manufacturers, experts, raw-material suppliers and metal fabricators.

Downstreaming opportunities

Lars Wismer, Managing Director of Messe Düsseldorf Asia, said the Aluminum Pavilion was among the key new offerings at this year’s event. The dedicated space covers the aluminum value chain, from melting and alloying to casting, precision fabrication and recycling.

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“The Aluminum Pavilion is basically all in one package,” Wismer said, highlighting processes including rolling, precision fabrication and recycling.

The GIFA and METEC Indonesia’s program also focuses on issues increasingly shaping the industry, including decarbonization, energy efficiency, smart factories, artificial intelligence, the circular economy and emerging technologies.

“These are key topics that a lot of industries, not only the metal industry, are looking at the moment,” he said.

Wismer said Indonesia is at a crucial stage of industrial transformation. Having built significant production capacity, the country’s next challenge is to strengthen its downstream ecosystem and create higher-value products from its growing raw-material and production base.

“Indonesia has proven that it can build capacity at a massive scale. The next challenge, and the greater opportunity, lies in strengthening the downstream ecosystem that transforms raw aluminum into high-value, internationally competitive products,” he said.

“GIFA and METEC Indonesia 2026, together with the new Aluminum Pavilion, will bring the industry together at this critical transformation point while creating a platform to collaborate, innovate and unlock new opportunities across the entire aluminum value chain.”

The focus of GIFA and METEC Indonesia is closely aligned with the government’s Asta Cita vision, particularly its emphasis on accelerating downstream industrial development and increasing domestic value creation.

Wismer said Indonesia already has a downstreaming policy framework, but this needs to be supported by domestic demand, production capabilities and access to appropriate technologies.

“What we do is provide the overall, from A to Z, platform for all the challenges that Indonesia might face,” he said.

The exhibitions bring international suppliers, manufacturers and technology providers together in one location, allowing industry players to identify solutions and establish business contacts more efficiently.

“Whether you are looking for suppliers or manufacturers for the whole industry, you can find them in one place,” Wismer said.

He added that the fairs provide access to technologies and suppliers from around the world while creating opportunities for visitors to expand their networks and develop new partnerships.

Energy efficiency and sustainability

Energy efficiency is another major focus, particularly because metal production involves energy-intensive processes such as melting and thermal processing.

“Energy is around, I think, 30 to 35 percent of the production cost. So, efficiency is the key factor in melting and in thermal processing because whatever you're going to save on that side goes basically straight to your margin,” Wismer said.

He also noted that energy efficiency and sustainability are becoming increasingly important in global markets, as customers and importers place greater emphasis on the environmental performance of metal production.

With growing demand for metal and aluminum across Asia-Pacific, Wismer said Indonesia has an opportunity to retain more value domestically by developing downstream processing rather than exporting raw or semi-processed materials.

“With the growing demand for metal and aluminum from Asia Pacific countries, and as Indonesia has production capabilities and the raw materials, it is important to develop the whole downstream process to keep it in Indonesia so as to create the value in Indonesia,” he said.

Wismer said Indonesia’s aluminum capacity is projected to roughly triple over the next three years. Such rapid expansion, he added, could shift the industry’s bottleneck from smelting to downstream processing.

“When the capacity moves this fast and the capacity build-up is that fast, the bottleneck shifts immediately to everything after the smelter. And this is what our Aluminum Pavilion addresses,” he said.

“The demand for metal and aluminum is there and the smelters are being built. The question is now who turns actually this metal into products and where is that going to happen.”

He said the Aluminum Pavilion is expected to remain an important feature of future editions of GIFA and METEC Indonesia.

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Sustainable industry platform

Messe Düsseldorf Asia also plans to further strengthen the sustainability dimension of its metal-industry events.

Wismer said the company has developed an “Eco Metal” concept across its metal portfolio and is integrating it into its Indonesian events.

“We have a concept called Eco Metal across our metal portfolio. In Indonesia, we are integrating it step by step, with a broader version planned for the next edition,” he said.

Aluminum recycling will be an important component of the initiative, alongside greater attention to technical knowledge and industry-led discussions.

“The knowledge is for us also very important, the more structured technical and conference content around the aluminum chain built together with the industry,” Wismer said.

He stressed that the development of the platform should be driven by cooperation with industry stakeholders.

“It's not an initiative that is done by us alone as a show organizer, but it's done together with the industry to meet the demands that are actually out there,” he said.

Looking ahead five to 10 years, Wismer said the long-term ambition is for GIFA Indonesia and METEC Indonesia to become a key meeting point for the metal industry across Southeast Asia.

“We definitely want to be the fixed point for the metal industry in this region, not only Indonesia itself,” he said.

The exhibitions, he added, should provide a place where industry players can meet, benchmark themselves against global standards and determine future investment priorities.

Wismer said the success of the exhibitions should therefore not be measured only by their size or number of exhibitors and visitors, but also by their ability to contribute to industrial development.

He sees particular potential for Indonesia to change its current position as an exporter of metal and importer of finished products.

“We think Indonesia exports metal and imports products at the moment, and we see a good possibility that in maybe five to 10 years, that reverses actually,” he said.

Achieving that shift will require continued cooperation among exhibition organizers, industry associations, technology providers and other stakeholders.

“We always work with associations, with partners from the industry, actually where the competence is in the various fields,” Wismer said.

“We really try to be part of the industry, but being part of the industry means also listening to the industry and collaborating with the industry in order to know what the market actually wants, where developments are headed,” he concluded.

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