The Ministry of Energy and Mineral Resources will offer foreigners the opportunity to invest in a number of oil and gas blocks.
Director General of Oil and Gas at the Ministry of Energy and Mineral Resources Djoko Siswanto said in Jakarta on Wednesday that foreigners would be allowed to invest, in a bid to encourage the participation of contractors.
"We offered this to many (contractors), we offer them a lot (of work areas), later if we are interested, then we will auction the areas off. If no one is interested, the auction is useless, a waste of time and energy," he said.
During the last "roadshow" event, the government offered the opportunity to invest in seven oil and gas working areas. But Djoko was reluctant to specify the work areas.
He added, there were two or three oil/gas blocks that seemed to attract oil and gas contractors.
According to Djoko, efforts to offer the oil and gas blocks before the auction were responded to positively by foreign businesses.
However, he admitted that the decision to invest in the oil and gas sector involves time and commitment, especially if the business requires head office approval for investment activities.
"Some companies need time to study. So before the auction, we have proactively conduct 'roadshows' to evaluate the responses," he said.
East Nusa Tenggara (NTT) Province will direct efforts to develop seven new tourist destinations in a bid to drive its tourism industry in 2019.
The NTT chapter of the Indonesian Travel Agent Association (Asita) has voiced its support to the provincial administration's plan.
"The policy related to the development of the seven destinations is correct. We, as business players, support it, as the government is undoubtedly responsible for the management of tourist destinations," Abed Frans, the Asita NTT chairman, remarked in Kupang, on Wednesday.
The new tourist destinations will be Fatumnasi located in South Timor Tengah District, Lamalera in Lembata, Mulut Seribu waters in Rote Ndao District, Pantai Liman located on Semau Isle, Kupang District, Koanara Village in Ende District, Wolwal in Alor District, and Praimadita located in East Sumba District.
The new tourist attractions will be developed through involvement of the local villages to boost the province's rural economy.
He is optimistic that the new destinations would be able to attract domestic and foreign tourists.
Among the current top priority tourist destinations in NTT are Labuan Bajo and the Komodo Dragon National Park, which are located in West Manggarai District, Flores Island.
In the meantime, the Indonesian Tourism Ministry has outlined a target to draw some 20 million foreign tourists in 2019.
During the January-April 2019 period, the country had received a total of 5.12 million foreign tourists, a 3.22 percent increase than 4.96 percent during the corresponding time frame in the previous year.
Of the total foreign tourists recorded in April 2019, Malaysia contributed 256,303 visitors; China, 171,575; Singapore, 149,979; Timor Leste, 106,245; and Australia, 101,999 tourists. (ant)
Several Dutch investors are to visit West Sumatra in August 2019 to obtain first hand information about the province's renewable energy potentials.
"The Dutch investors plan to come and observe the existing potentials in August," Chief of the West Sumatra Investment and Integrated One-Stop Service Office Maswar Dedi said in Padang, West Sumatra, on Wednesday (June 12).
The renewable energy potentials that attract Dutch investors include energy from waste treatment units at several landfills in the province, he said.
The Dutch expressed interest in investing in renewable energy projects when the West Sumatra delegation took part in the Tong-Tong Festival held in the Netherlands in May this year, he said.
"We took a chance to promote the province's potentials during a business meeting in the Netherlands and received positive responses," he said.
The waste treatment projects to produce renewable energy also benefits the province, since the waste will be managed properly. In fact, the waste management can create jobs, he said.
To date, almost all districts and municipalities in West Sumatra have their own landfills. In addition, there are also two regional landfills to accommodate garbage. However, none of them has had the equipment to produce renewable energy, he said.
Chief of the West Sumatra Environment Office Siti Aisyah earlier said several investors had expressed much interest in processing waste into energy. However, none of them had put in place their investment plans because the daily volume of garbage was not enough to be converted into energy. (ANTARA)