Govt invites JBIC to support smelters construction

Vice President Boediono has invited investors from Japan to take part in smelter construction in Indonesia to process mineral ores before being exported, including to Japan.

The call, raised during a meeting with visiting chairman of Japan for International Cooperation (JBIC) Hiroshi Okuda at Vice Presidential office last week, came after Japan planned to bring Indonesia to the World Trade Organization should compromise talks over the export restriction on mineral ores fail.

Yopie Hidayat, the spokesman for the Vice President, said that the chairman of JBIC understood the Indonesian?s policy in the mining downstream industry and promised to support the program. ?JBIC understands and supports the policy,? Yopie said after the meeting as quoted by Kontan.

Japan imported 3.65 million tons of nickel ores in 2011 of which some 1.95 million tons or about 54 percent were from Indonesia, and from New Caledonia with 27 percent and the Philippines with 19 percent.(*)