Economist: ICOMEX needs time to become a credible exchange

Jakarta (ANTARA) - Paramadina University economist Wijayanto Samirin stated that the Strategic Mineral and Commodity Exchange, or ICOMEX, needs time to become a credible exchange and a global reference point, as well as to remain relatively independent from government intervention.

“ICOMEX needs time to become a credible exchange,” said Wijayanto when contacted in Jakarta on Wednesday.

According to him, the establishment of ICOMEX appears somewhat rushed, as it would ideally leverage existing commodity exchanges such as the ICDX, thereby avoiding the need to build entirely new systems and organisations.

However, he noted that for ICOMEX to become a credible exchange and a global reference, several requirements must be met.

“In addition to that, it must be connected to the global market, possess high liquidity with many sellers, products, and buyers, and feature a reliable physical settlement and delivery system,” he said.

He added that even once these requirements are met, the Strategic Mineral and Commodity Exchange would still require approximately four to five years to mature.

Nevertheless, he suggested that if the process were to be accelerated, all exporters would be required to use ICOMEX for all of their export contracts.