PTBA seeking expansion to Myanmar, Vietnam
Saturday, July 27 2013 - 03:13 AM WIB
IDX-listed PT Bukit Asam Tbk (PTBA) is exploring the possibility of expansion to Myanmar and Vietnam, which are both growing markets of energy in Southeast Asia.
?We?re interested to build power plants in Myanmar and Vietnam. We?re now studying the possibility in both countries,? PTBA President Director Milawarman told the press in Jakarta on Friday.
Milawarman said that in Myanmar, they had met with the country?s minister of electricity. ?We?ve presented to him our expansion program to build two power plants with a total generation capacity of 600 megawatt (MW). And we?ve already got a partner there,? he said.
He expected that his company will soon get the right locations for the two power plants, which each will have a generation capacity of 2x100 MW and 2x200 MW.
Milawarman said that in Vietnam they also have met with a number of government officials. ?We?ve also met with the president and prime minister of Vietnam to discuss about the business expansions. There is a strong possibility in Vietnam, as the country is also one of the export markets for our coal,? he said.
According to Milawarman, in Vietnam PTBA is exploring three possibilities of businesses, namely coal mining, coal trading, and power plant. Regarding the total investments planned for the expansion, he said it will depend on which business will be pursued by his company.
?But for sure, the total investment fund will be derived from our own internal cash. Currently, we have a total internal cash of Rp 5 trillion,? said PTBA?s Corporate Secretary Joko Pramono during the same occasion.
Editing by Benget Besalicto ST