Bank UOB Indonesia ready to finance smelter projects
Thursday, August 22 2013 - 01:17 AM WIB
President Director of PT Bank UOB Indonesia Armand B. Arief said that the bank was ready to provide loans to help finance massive smelter projects in Indonesia.
?We?re ready to help the financing (of the smelter projects),? Armand told Petromindo.com Wednesday. He added that his bank supported the government?s policy of developing the downstream mining sector to generate greater value added from minerals.
He said that the bank plans to double its corporate loans to over Rp 40 trillion (US$3.7 billion) over the next three years, part of which would be allocated to the mining sector.
As mandated by the 2009 mining law, the government will ban the export of mineral ores starting next year, requiring mining companies to build smelters to process the ores at home. The cost of building one unit of smelter is estimated at $1.5-2 billion.
PT Bank UOB Indonesia is a subsidiary of Bank UOB Singapore.
Editing by Reiner Simanjuntak