Jakarta, Feb 27 (Antara) - Indonesia and Iran have been discussing efforts to concretize plans to expand cooperation in the energy and other economic sectors, notably in the field of oil exploitation.
Through state-owned oil and gas company PT Pertamina, Indonesia is planning to invest in two Iranian oil fields, import gas from the Persian nation, and offer Iranian investors a chance to run oil refinery plants in Indonesia.
Besides the energy sector, the two countries are also discussing various other economic issues of mutual concerns, including efforts to accomplish the preferential trade agreement (PTA) between the two countries.
The expansion of cooperation plan was discussed between the two countries when Indonesian President Joko Widodo (Jokowi) visited Iran in Dec last year. In order to concretize the plan, Indonesia sent a delegation to Tehran on Feb 26 and 27, 2017 to follow up the results of Jokowi's visit.
The Indonesian delegation was led by Coordinating Minister for Economic Affairs Darmin Nasution and included the deputy minister for energy and mineral resources, the Indonesian ambassador to Iran, a number of high Indonesian officials from relevant ministries/state institutions, and executives of state-owned companies (BUMN).
They were received by Iranian President Hassan Rouhani and Vice President for Sciences Sorena Sattari and held bilateral meetings with the governor of the Iranian Central Bank, the oil minister, and the information and communication technology minister.
The meetings discussed cooperation in various economic sectors such as energy, trade, investment, finance, banking, sciences, technology, agriculture, and tourism. The two sides also encouraged the active participation of businesses in the cooperation of the two countries.
"I have met Iranian President Hassan Rouhani and extended a letter from President Jokowi in a bid to strengthen economic relations between Indonesia and Iran," Nasution stated while elaborating on his two-day visit to Iran.
One of the main agenda of the visit was to deliver a proposal from Indonesian state-owned oil firm PT Pertamina to the National Iranian Oil Company on the management of two oil fields in Ab Teymour and Mansouri, Bangestan Province, South Iran.
Earlier, Deputy Minister of Energy and Mineral Resources Arcandra Tahar confirmed that Pertamina, is ready to invest in two oil fields in Iran.
Pertamina's director of upstream business, Syamsu Alam, stated that the National Iranian Oil Company's (NIOC) subsidiary, the National Iranian South Oil Company (NISOC) held talks about the planned investment in the Ab-Teymour and Mansouri oil fields. "On Feb 11, we held talks with the NIOC.," he said.
Pertamina and NIOC had signed a commitment to carry out an initial study of two giant oil fields in Iran---Ab Teymour and Mansouri---that have oil reserves of three billion barrels. The NIOC has offered the two oil fields to Pertamina.
Based on Pertamina's studies, the two oil fields respectively have oil reserves of more than 1.5 billion barrels, with each having production potential that can be increased to over 200 thousand barrels per day.
According to Arcandra Tahar, the commitments in the energy sector include Pertamina's plan to invest there as well as gas imports.
The Delegation to Iran therefore also explored the possibility of purchasing liquefied natural gas at a competitive price for meeting the domestic needs, notably of power plants, industrial areas having petrochemical and fertilizer plants, and special economic zones.
The Indonesian government has also invited Iranian investors to build oil refineries in Indonesia.
Indonesia has also offered to Iran an investment in the electricity sector, especially in the development of generators and capacity improvement of industrial equipment, to support domestic production.
"The IPP (Independent Power Producer) investment includes thermal and renewable power generators and capacity building for industrial equipment to support domestic production. The two are important in addition to maintenance service," Supangkat Iwan Santoso, the director of procurement of the state electricity company PLN, said recently.
Santoso reminded that a number of investors from Iran have already expressed an interest to be involved in the US$5 billion worth of electricity energy projects.
With regard to cooperation in the economic sector, the Indonesian delegation to Iran also discussed efforts to materialize easier, faster, and more secure financial transactions between the two countries.
To this end, Bank Indonesia and the Iranian central bank have reached an agreement through a memorandum of understanding (MoU) on central bank affairs: monetary, macroprudential, and payment system. The MoU will be implemented through the establishment of a policy dialog, exchange of information, and capacity building.
In the trade and investment sectors, the two sides also encouraged the completion of the Preferential Trade Agreement (PTA) negotiations aimed at eliminating tariff barriers for increasing the competitive edge and creating balanced and sustainable trade.
"We also stressed the importance of completing the discussion of the PTA between Indonesia and Iran in June 2017," he said.
One of the objectives of accomplishing the PTA negotiations is that Indonesia is keen to not only make Iran an export market but also a hub in the Middle-East region.
During the visit, science and technology, strategic industry, and tourism were the other sectors discussed for cooperation.
In the field of science and technology, the two countries agreed to give attention to cooperation in nanotechnology, biotechnology, and the development of a technopark.
With regard to the strategic industry, both nations will encourage the strengthening of cooperation in the area of aircraft maintenance and for the development of helicopters and drones for civilian use.
Apart from meetings between high-ranking government officials, both sides also held meetings attended by business players, such as the officials and executives of Pertamina, Pupuk Indonesia, Bank Mandiri, Bank BNI, and Bank BRI, to demonstrate Indonesia's seriousness in doing business with Iran.(A014/INE)EDITED BY INE(T.A014/A/BESSR/A. Abdussalam) 27-02-2017 21:01 |
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