20 million tons of goldAccording to the Gov't there is roughly 20 million tons of gold in the Northern Sumatra area:
Aceh is a province that is blessed by abundant naturalresources and wealth that have long lain undeveloped due to a32-year insurgency that only recently came to an end. Now, in a new eraof peace and development after the long years of civil unrest and the 2004tsunami disaster, the opportunities for business appear almostendless in the country’s westernmost province as Andi Haswidireported in Business News.
The region is blessed withbountiful mineral, energy, marine, agricultural and plantation resourcesthat are now open to new investment.
According to a recent report from the Energy and Mineral ResourcesMinistry, the province holds an estimated 20 million tons of gold, 600million tons of copper, 32 million tons of platinum, 32 million tons ofmercury, 53,000 tons of lead, 350,000 tons of iron ore, 6.4 million tonsof iron sand and 600 million tons of molybdenum.
On top of all that, it also boasts some 114 billion tons of coalreserves.
“The mining and energy potentials described by the report illustratejust how big the opportunities are. And almost all of these resourceshave never been touched before due to the long years of conflict,” AcehInvestor Outreach Office director Syafruddin Chan said in BandaAceh.
The mining and energy sectors should serve as the locomotive to getthe province’s economic growth back on track. Things have alreadystarted to move thanks to the Rp 60 trillion (about US$6.6 billion)being invested in rehabilitation projects.
But there is a growing concern that the provincial economy couldgrind to a virtual halt again after the rehabilitation work by the Acehand Nias Rehabilitation and Reconstruction Agency (BRR) iscompleted in 2009.
“We are currently focusing on agricultural and marine products asregards developing the province’s economy. However, in the future, themost promising sector will be energy and minerals, such as coal,” BRReconomics and business deputy Said Faisal Baabud told the Post earlierthis week.
Aceh Governor Irwandi Yusuf has acknowledged the importance ofmineral resources in the provincial economic plan, despite their adverseconsequences for the environment.
In order to minimize destructive environmental impacts, theprovincial administration has introduced tight licensing procedures formining operations.
“We have received a lot of mining exploration proposals, but so farhave only licensed three companies,” he said as quoted by the localSerambi daily in its Wednesday edition.
In the agricultural sector, key commodities grown in the provinceinclude rice, corn, soybeans, nuts, sweet potatoes and other edibletubers.
In 2005 alone, only a year after the tsunami disaster, the ricefields of Aceh produced 1.4 million tons of the national staple. In thesame year, Aceh also produced 59,370 tons of Arabicaand Robusta coffee, 250,000 tons of crude palm oil(CPO) and 78,031 tons of rubber.
The potential of the marine and fisheries industryin Aceh has yet to be developed. The province has a coastline extendingto 1,600 square kilometers, and an exclusive economic zone (ZEE) of534,520 square kilometers. In all, the province has the potential toproduce 173,045 tons of fisheries products per year, excluding the ZEE.
With the help of the World Bank’s private sector development firm,the International Finance Corporation (IFC), the province has begun topromote the farming of what are touted to be the world’s best blacktiger shrimps. Production currently amounts to about 8,000 tons peryear, and the industry has the potential to generate annual foreignexchange earnings of up to $50 million.
Investment procedures in Aceh have also beensimplified through the establishment of the Aceh One-Stop InvestmentService (KPTSP). Business permits can now be processed in 7 working daysunder normal circumstances, and in one or two days in special cases ifall the requirements have been satisfied.
“Aceh is now in need of foreign investors to bring in the capital andthe technological know-how to help increase the value of our products.For those who invest a minimum of Rp 5 billion, we are ready to exemptthem from paying local taxes,” KPTSP director Said Yulizal promised.
For some early birds, the promise of more relaxed investmentprocedures has been too good to miss. Since it was set up two monthsago, the KPTSP has issued more than 1,000 business permits to local andforeign investors.
Andi Haswidi