Foreign investors eye coal mining in Bengkulu

Investors from China, Malaysia, Singapore, South Korea and the Netherlands have expressed their willingness to invest in coal mining in Bengkulu province, Bisnis Indonesia newspaper reported in its Wednesday edition.

?The businessmen from the five countries have already conveyed their wish to the Bengkulu provincial administration recently, Bengkulu?s head of investment coordinating body Dalhadi Umar said in Bengkulu on Tuesday.

Investors from the Netherlands and Singapore had even visited a coal-mining site in North Bengkulu district, Dalhadi said.

Some of them foreign investors have signed memorandum of understanding (MoU) and memorandum of agreement (MoA), he said.

However, Dalhadi didn?t disclose which investors have signed these agreements.

So far, South Koreans are the only foreign investors who have invested in Bengkulu?s coal mining sector.

These foreign investors are planning to open new coal mining sites and reactivate the abandoned ones in the province, he said.

Five of the 16 abandoned mines have already reopened recently.

As per the data from the province, Bengkulu has 150 million tons of coal deposits in North Bengkulu and South Bengkulu districts.

Nearly 80 percent of the province?s coal production has been sold in the domestic market including power companies in Cilacap (Central Java) and Suralaya (Banten) districts. (*)