AFMA urges members to boost mining industry
Thursday, April 18 2013 - 03:33 AM WIB
Chairman of ASEAN Federation of Mining Association (AFMA) Martiono Hadianto urged member countries to advance their respective mining industry as the sector contributes significantly to economic growth.
Martiono, who is also chairman of the Indonesian Mining Association (IMA), said that AFMA member countries have considered mining industry as "the backbone of their economic growth."
As the AFMA member countries rely much on developed countries in financing and technology for developing the mining sector, there has been competition among the countries, he said on the sidelines of the Ozmine 2013 Australian mining conference in Jakarta Wednesday.
He said that move by some AFMA member countries such as Cambodia and Laos PDR to ease their investment policy in the mining sector should not cause for concern as the two nations are still seriously lacking the technology and financing to develop the sector.
He said that in Indonesia, the mining sector currently accounts for 12 percent of GDP. The government?s plan to boost the downstream side of the mining sector would further increase its contribution to the economy.
Editing by Reiner Simanjuntak