Funding the future: Industry Minister Fahmi Idris (right) with a delegation from China’s Henan province led by Governor Guo Gengmao at a meeting at the Industry Ministry in Jakarta. Six agreements worth US$200 million were signed. JP/R. Berto WedhatamaFunding the future: Industry Minister Fahmi Idris (right) with a delegation from China’s Henan province led by Governor Guo Gengmao at a meeting at the Industry Ministry in Jakarta. Six agreements worth US$200 million were signed. JP/R. Berto Wedhatama
The regional administration of China’s province of Henan inked six agreements worth around US$200 million in investment Monday with the Industry Ministry.
The agreements, encompassing the steel industry and the tire industry, among others, were signed after a meeting between a Henan delegation, including 120 Henan businessmen, and officials at the ministry.
Henan Governor Guo Gengmao said among the investors were a joint venture between Yongtong Steel and China Nickel Group, with $64 million in investment, and Good Friend Tire Co. with $15 million.
“Today [Monday], 120 businesses come with us … to look for a possibility to cooperate in the economy, in culture, etc. in Indonesia,” he told the press in a conference.
“This time, there are six agreements signed by [Henan] businessmen … worth approximately $200 million.”
Guo said one of the Henan companies and an Indonesian partner were building a steel factory in South Kalimantan, with an output of 3 million tons per annum.
Industry Minister Fahmi Idris confirmed the statement, saying that Henan-based Zhengzhou YongTong Special Steel Corporation is building a steel factory in South Kalimantan working with local company PT Mandan Steel.
The factory will use local iron resources, Fahmi said.
Ministry’s director for metal industry I Gusti Putu Suryawirawan previously said Mandan Steel, as well as PT Meratus Jaya and PT Semeru Surya Steel, were to build three iron ore processing factories worth a total of $330 million in South Kalimantan.
He said Mandan Steel would initially yield 1 million tons of billet iron per annum, while Meratus Jaya and Semeru Surya Steel will respectively produce 315,000 tons and 300,000 tons of sponge iron .
Guo said as part of a regional government, he would push Henan companies to further cooperate with Indonesian businesses and investment more. He said Indonesia and China established a strategic partnership in 2005 to boost cooperation between the two countries, as well as between Indonesia and the Henan province.
As of 2008, Indonesian investment in Henan had stood at $9.94 million in 15 different projects, according to the province’s data.
The trade value between Indonesia and the province amounted to $216 million in 2008, up by 47.7 percent from a year earlier, with main traded commodities including rubber and iron sand, it says.
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