RI STEPPING UP ENERGY COOPERATION WITH OTHER COUNTRIES

By Andi Abdussalam

Jakarta,  Dec 16 (ANTARA) - Indonesia is new stepping up cooperation in the energy sector with many countries in the face of growing energy shortages at home and progressive depletion of its energy resources.          Based on a study, Indonesia is predicted to become an energy importer by 2030 and in this case the government is urged to save on energy and strive to achieve  self-reliance in the energy sector.         "The prediction is based on the results of a study by the Energy Resources Development Technology Center (PTPSD) of  the National Agency for Assessment and Application of Technology (BPPT). the agency's chief Marzan Aziz Iskandar, said on Wednesday.          In the face of shortage of energy, the Indonesian government is now stepping up and offering cooperation on energy, particularly renewable energy, to many countries such as  Germany, the United States, China, Saudi Arabia and South Korea.          According to legislator Arif Budimanta, a member of the House's Commission XI on financial affairs, there was an urgent need for the government to save on energy and develop  self-reliance in the energy sector. This was a task that should be addressed immediately.          Moreover, it is predicted that domestic energy production would no longer be able to meet domestic need in 2030. "Domestic need for energy will increase rapidly to 4.2 times the volume in 2009 and domestic production will only increase 2 times its present figure," Marzan of the BPPT said.           Marzan said in 2030 it was expected that Indonesia's energy imports would reach 1.05 billion equivalent to barrels of oil. The imports will be composed of 57 percent fuel oils, 36 percent crude, 6.8 liquefied petroleum gas (LPG) and a small volume of coal.          "But the country's energy and renewable energy production in 2030 is estimated at 524 million equivalent to barrel oil, or an increase by 12.4 times from the present condition," he said      Energy is an urgent issue in the country because it is difficult to  develop as it has limited renewable resources.       "Now, energy is a big issue that should be addressed by the nation. Besides, absorbing huge amounts of funds, energy is also related to environmental problems," legislator Arif said meanwhile.  He said that every year Indonesia had to allocate Rp200 trillion to subsidize the national need for energy.          Most of the  funds were used for energy imports. "We have to import a large volume of energy," he said. He said that as energy resources were very limited it should be economized and the government should save on energy and build self-reliance in the energy sector.          In this case, Forestry Minister Zulkifli Hasan said here on Monday that Indonesia and China which had a big population were seeking to cooperate on renewable energy to anticipate the depletion of fossil energy resources.         "It is important for the two countries to develop renewable energy in the face of declining fossil energy resources. After all, China has relatively advanced technology on renewable energy, such as technology on the utilization of solar and hydro energy," the minister said.              The minister expressed his hope that the two countries would respectively set up a team to follow up on the results of a meeting between him and a Chinese delegation which was led by Cao Jialin, deputy technology minister at the Chinese Science and Technology Ministry.             Besides, Indonesia and the Unite States will also step up  cooperation in improving the investment climate in renewable energy like what has already been stated in a dialogue between the two countries.          "We wish to improve the investment climate in the two countries to invite the private sector and seek new opportunities," economic coordinating deputy minister for economic cooperation and international financing Rizal Affandi Lukman said after meeting a delegation of US businessmen in Jakarta last week.          "In the investment climate symposium in Bali we have invited Saudi Arabia, South Korea, and Hong Kong whose business facilities had already been raised significantly in the last five year," he said.          With regard to South Korea, Forestry Ministry Secretary General Hadi Daryanto said that there were three Korean investors who had been given permits by the ministry to develop timber estates and a wood pellet factory with a production capacity of about 40,000 tons.          "The Korean investors needed large lands for their investment. The proposals that have been tabled cover 200,000 hectares and the ministry has approved 140,000 hectares with an investment of Rp6 trillion," he said.           In addition, Rizal Affandi Lukman said that Indonesia and the United States would also increase cooperation in clean and renewable energy to meet the needs of the environmentally friendly green industry.          "We propose the US to assist in realizing the green industry road map towards meeting an environmentally friendly industry, and we are now realizing the stages of its formulations," he said.          Not only that, President Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono has also invited Germany to cooperate on the energy sector.         After all, German investment in Indonesia currently still totaled around 300 million US dollars, which according to the head of state still could be increased.          "However, the amount could be increased further," Yudhoyono said in a joint press conference with visiting German President Christian Wulff, at Merdeka Palace, early this month.          Yudhoyono invited Germany to become a strategic partner for the projects of the Indonesian Economic Development Expansion and Acceleration Masterplan (MP3EI).           He also expressed his hope for the transfer of health technology from Germany. He also hoped that more Indonesian young people could have opportunities to study technologies in Germany. In this case Christian Wulff said his country offered around 400 scholarships for Indonesians to study in Germany.           Germany was interested in establishing cooperation with Indonesia in the sector of energy friendly to the environment, the Garman president said.          "Indonesia is the lung of the world, and we very much hope that Indonesia manages its forest properly," he said.***5*** (T.A014/A/HAJM/20:00/a014) 16-12-2011 20:03: