Investment climate in mining sector still unattractive

The investment climate in the mining sector remains unattractive to both new and existing investors due to continuing legal uncertainty, poor implementation of regional autonomy, and unfriendly tax policy, Investor Daily reported on Saturday.

P.L. Coutrier, the executive director of the Indonesian Mining Association (IMA), said in Jakarta on Friday that a breach of contracts still often occurred due to the legal uncertainties.

He said that the lack of enforcement of existing law also continued to impede investment in the mining sector because the investors had yet to have a clear guideline on how to run their business in the sector.

?The tax policy which still requires investors to pay tax during the stage of exploration also poses a problem in attracting new investments,? he added.

According to Coutrier, such weakness should be removed as soon as possible, if the government is serious enough to attract investors to invest their money in the country?s high-risk mining sector. (*)