Indonesia, South Korea sign forestry agreement
Indonesia, South Korea sign forestry agreement
JAKARTA (JP): Indonesia and South Korea signed on Wednesday an
agreement to continue cooperation in the forestry sector for the
next two years.
The agreement was signed by director general of production
forest utilization of the Ministry of Forestry Surachmanto Hutomo
and South Korean Junior Minister of Forestry Shin Soon-woo.
It was the fifteenth forestry pact signed by the Indonesian
and South Korean government since 1968, when they inked the first
pact.
Under the agreement, Indonesia and Korea will cooperate in
some projects including trees planting, investment in ecotourism,
human resources training, illegal logging and forest fires
fighting.
All the projects are expected to start later this year with
financing from the South Korean government or private sector,
Surachmanto said.
He explained that tree planting project would be jointly
executed by state owned timber company PT Perhutani and PT
Korintigahutani, a subsidiary of South Korea's Korindo Group,
stating that the first would provide its plantation land, while
the latter would inject funds.
"The project will cover 8,000 hectares at Perhutani's
plantation in Karawang, West Java with the cost of Rp 5 million
(US$438.6) per hectare or total about Rp 40 billion," he said
after the signing ceremony.
He added the wood from the 8,000 hectare land would be
supplied to Korindo's pulp and paper plant in Cileungsi, West
Java.
According to a South Korean delegate, Kim Young-cheol, Korindo
now operates a paper plant with the production capacity of
430,000 tons per year and it plans to invest US$30 million to
build a pulp plant in the same location with the capacity of
100,000 tons per year.
Regarding ecotourism project contained in the agreement,
Surachmanto said a South Korean company would invest to develop
ecotourism in Pangkalan Bun, South Kalimantan.
He refused to name the company but Kim confirmed that the
company in question was Kodeco or Korea Development Company
Ltd..
However, Kim refused to specify the amount of the investment.
"The agreement indicates the very close relationship between
two countries especially in the forestry sector," he said.
The South Korean junior minister said that the agreement would
contribute to the forest conservation and sustainable
development.
"It's also important to boost trade between two countries as
Indonesia is the largest country in terms of Korea's timber
products imports," he added. (05)