“We are currently facing a current account deficit and a trade deficit, which should be everyone’s concern,” he said during a handover ceremony with outgoing minister Ignasius Jonan and outgoing deputy minister Arcandra Tahar in Jakarta on Wednesday.

Indonesia booked a US$439 million trade deficit last year mainly as a result of the oil industry, whose $18.42 billion deficit was minimized by surpluses in other sectors, including gas, according to Bank Indonesia (BI) data.

Various ministerial policies issued under the first Cabinet to reduce oil imports include an increase of domestic oil production, the use of renewable energy and the switch to a 30-percent biofuel mix (B30).

The handover ceremony, held at the Energy and Mineral Resources Ministry a few hours after President Joko “Jokowi” Widodo announced his new Cabinet, was packed with dozens of officials, businesspeople, observers and reporters who took turns wishing the three officials well.

Big names to attend the ceremony include mining giants Antam and Freeport, oil and gas companies BP and Pertamina, the Indonesian Renewable Energy Society (METI) and state-owned utility company PLN.

The new minister, a trained chemical engineer with a bachelor’s degree from the Bandung Institute of Technology (ITB), did not elaborate on his plan of action but noted that: “I’ve always followed Pak Jonan’s activities. I accompanied him for business visits and negotiations in Tokyo.”

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