Indonesia, Japan to discuss risks of ore export ban

By Bambang Atmaja

Both the Indonesian government and Japanese business players are said to schedule a meeting to discuss problems over the risks of Indonesia's recent raw mining product export ban, a minister said.

Industry Minister MS. Hidayat made the statement after his recent meeting with Japanese business players in Japan, adding that Japanese business players have persistently urged for continuous import of raw mining products from Indonesia.

The minister said that although the Japanese understood the importance of the Indonesian government's decision, but stating that possible relocation of processing units from Japan to Indonesia would create unemployment problem in the country.

?The problem must be discussed (by both sides) and there will be a special forum to discuss it,? said Hidayat to Petromindo.com at the State Palace on Wednesday without elaborating further.

In May, the Indonesian government banned the export of 65 raw mining products, unless miners are committed to build smelters and pay a 20 percent export tax ahead of the implementation of the total export ban of all raw mining products in 2014.

Editing by Er Audy Zandri