REPUBLIKA.CO.ID, BANDARLAMPUNG - The province of Lampung will hold an investment summit next months in a bid to draw investment to that region to highlight the commemoration of the 50th anniversary of the province. The organizer will invite government officials, local business leaders, infrastructure developers and investors as well as energy experts to take part in the meeting,
"The results of the summit are expected to contribute to development of industries and energy in the province," acting secretary of the regional administration Arinal Junaidi said on Monday.
Lampung Governor Sjachroedin ZP has warned of energy crisis in the province. The governor said since 2007, Lampung had stood watching natural gas being sent using pipes crossing its land from South Sumatra to West Java across the sea.
"None of the gas goes to industries or households in Lampung," he said.
Arinal said Lampung was strategically located as a gateway for Sumatra to the busy sea lane of Sunda strait and to Java across the sea. Sunda strait is also important as an international shipping lane between the Indian ocean and the South China Sea providing an alternative to Malacca strait, he said.
Lampung is known to have potential agribusiness that needs expansion, he said , citing Lampung produces sugar 35 percent of the country's total requirement. Lampung is the country's 7th largest rice producer with an annual surplus of 800,000 tons; the third largest producer of corn and the largest producer of cassava.
Lampung is the country's largest exporter of canned pineapple mainly to Spain averaging 167,018 tons per year, shrimps to the United States averaging 19,614 tons per year and supplier of fresh fruits and vegetables to Jakarta averaging 1,000 tons per day.