REPUBLIKA.CO.ID, Jakarta -- Taiwanese investors are interested in Indonesia's petrochemical industry sector comprising ammonia and mega methanol products worth US$2.5 billion or Rp34.75 trillion, according to the Indonesian Investment Coordinating Board (BKPM).

BKPM Head Franky Sibarani in a press statement received here on Thursday stated that the investors are still on the lookout for the right location by taking into account the availability of natural gas and other raw materials needed for production.

"The investment value is also quite large. Therefore, we will continue to monitor until the implementation is complete, including the project location and the availability of the required raw materials," Sibarani affirmed.

Sibarani also revealed that the plan was to build two plants each having an area of 100 hectares and will be implemented in two stages by the investor.

The target is to achieve a production capacity of 600 kilo metric tons per annum (KMTA) of ammonia by the end of the first stage and 1,800 KMTA of mega methanol by the end of the second phase.

"The petrochemical industry is one of the strategic industries. Several derivative products, such as consumer textile, industrial textile, engineering plastics, resins, rubber, and acrylic fibers can be produced from ammonia and mega methanol," he pointed out.

Furthermore, Sibarani noted that the petrochemical industry was classified as a strategic industry that can increase the supply of basic chemicals needed by the industry in Indonesia.

"The industry is classified as an import substitution industry that has a strategic value for the coordinating board and has become a priority since last year," Sibarani remarked.

According to Franky, the influx of investment from Taiwan is expected to support the realization of investments in 2016 amounting to Rp594.8 trillion. In particular, the contribution of foreign investment is targeted at Rp386 trillion, or 65 percent of the total investment realization targeted to enter the country.

Head of investment of the Indonesian Economic and Trade Office (KDEI) of Taipei Mohamad Faizal expressed readiness to intensively escort and facilitate the realization of Taiwanese investment.

According to Faizal, the petrochemical industry is expected to increase the value of Indonesian exports and help to stimulate growth in the derivatives industry.

To follow up on the potentials, the coordinating board and trade office are currently working with the related parties for facilitating the investors.

"Following the directive of the Investment Coordinating Board's head, we have scheduled a meeting between the company and the Indonesian energy regulator SKK Migas to discuss measures related to the realization of development projects. We will help to solve problems related to raw material requirements," Faizal concluded.

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