REPUBLIKA.CO.ID, GRESIK -- State-owned fertilizer company PT Petrokimia Gresik plans to invest in several African countries, including Egypt, to source rock phosphate due to its limited availability in many countries.

"We have explored an MoU with Egypt that has huge rock phosphate reserves, and in 2016, we will again conduct a study, including for establishing cooperation for mining," the company's president director, Hidayat Nyakman, stated here on Thursday.

He noted that investment to source raw materials from abroad must be made immediately due to stiffer competition in the fertilizer industry as it is one of the main components of the nation's defense in the food sector.

Nyakman remarked that the country's fertilizer industry should be bold enough to invest abroad to source raw materials as the country's dependence on imports was still high.

Investment cooperation with several countries to source fertilizer raw materials will be continued, so that rock phosphate producing countries do not exploit the domestic fertilizer industry due to the shortage of alternatives, he affirmed.

"Countries such as China, Brazil, and India have so far had a joint rock phosphate venture," he said.

Nyakman said cooperation and exploration of possible rock phosphate sources in several countries would indirectly help to maintain the nation's food resilience.

"We also encourage the government to have mining joint ventures in other countries as the domestic fertilizer industry would otherwise not be able to survive due to tougher competition," he pointed out.

In the year-end report, the realization of sales of PT Petrokimia Gresik increased by around 0.2 million tons from 5.3 million in 2014 to 5.5 million in 2015.

The positive trend has increased the company's contribution to the government from Rp2.354 billion in 2014 to Rp2.476 billion in 2015.

"The company's tax contribution this year reaches Rp1.571 billion, up from Rp1.465 billion in 2014," he added.

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