Although the nickel boom had brought fantastical on-paper economic growth for Central Sulawesi–and for Morowali Regency in particular–this is by no means a good recipe for sustainable economic development. Relying on nickel alone can put Morowali’s future in jeopardy. Nickel is a finite resource, bound to dry up one day and at the mercy of the international commodity market. Furthermore, the overexploitation of nickel could cause substantial environmental degradation which would adversely impact the more sustainable sectors such as agriculture and fisheries.
In addition, RPJPN 2025–2045 had mandated more emphasis on a more sustainable economy at provinces and regencies level. Taking those into consideration, an alternative model of economy for the Morowali Regency should be devised. A more sustainable model that can consistently support the people of Morowali for a longer period of time and less damaging to the environment.
For this purpose, economic diversification for Morowali that puts far less emphasis on mining and extractive sectors is required. In this report CELIOS had devised several possible economic diversification programs for Morowali Regency and simulated its implementation on an IO model. These programs are centered on the development of agricultural and fishery sectors, as well as the development of renewable energy in Morowali. The result shows that these diversification efforts could increase Central Sulawesi’s economic growth by 8.83% annually for 20 years. Although this growth is not as fantastic as nickel-driven economic growth, the diversification effort has the potential to keep this level of growth sustainable and will not dry up in 5 years nor will it devastate the environment like nickel.
