Govt Expresses Appreciation to APBI-ICMA

MINISTRY OF ENERGY AND MINERAL RESOURCES

REPUBLIC OF INDONESIA

PRESS RELEASE

NUMBER: 317.Pers/04/SJI/2020

Date: 27 October 2020

Govt Expresses Appreciation to APBI-ICMA

The government and all stakeholders have the same goal in the mineral and coal mining subsector, namely to provide maximum benefits for the people. This was expressed by Director General of Mineral and Coal, Ridwan Djamaluddin, at a virtual conference titled "Synergize, Energize, in the Face of the Pandemic" held on Tuesday (27/10).

In the conference held to celebrate the 31st anniversary of the Indonesian Coal Mining Association (APBI-ICMA), Ridwan gave his appreciation to APBI-ICMA in realizing the government's programs.

"We'd like to appreciate the role and contribution of APBI-ICMA in realizing the government's programs, namely the drafting of Law Number 3 of 2020 on Amendments to Law Number 4 of 2009 on Mineral and Coal Mining, fulfillment of Domestic Market Obligation (DMO) of Coal, contribution to national and regional development and job creation, and fulfillment of environmental performance and coal mining safety," he explained.

On this occasion, Ridwan said that the mineral and coal mining subsector will face several difficult challenges. Ministry of Energy and Mineral Resources (EMR) hopes that APBI-ICMA can support the government in realizing National Energy Security through several efforts.

The first effort is related to security of coal reserves. He said that Indonesia has enough coal reserves to last for decades. The country's remaining coal reserves reach more than 24.75 billion tonnes by 2040.

"Of course, this is not enough because demands will increase in the future. For this reason, investment in coal exploration is necessary to ensure that we have correct estimates of coal reserves quantity," said Ridwan.

The next effort is completion of implementing regulations for Law Number 3 of 2020 on Mineral and Coal Mining. Ridwan said that Ministry of EMR has targeted the issuance of these implementing regulations within six months.

"Currently, one of the 3 draft government regulations is at the harmonization stage, namely draft government regulation on Entrepreneurship. Meanwhile, draft government regulations on Territoriality and on Fostering and Supervision are in completion stage. Thank you for your support, and we have incorporated inputs from APBI-ICMA. I hope that the process will run smoothly and that the regulations will not place any burdens on industry players," he explained.

The next effort is the conversion of PKP2B into IUPK. Ridwan said that in order to give certainty in the conversion of PKP2B into IUPK, the government made evaluation in accordance with the applicable laws and regulations. The next effort is related to the increase in the added value of coal. In Indonesia, low-calorie coal dominates the potential. This coal type will be of economic value if efforts are made to increase its added value.

Ridwan requested APBI-ICMA to pay attention to the issue of the increase in the added value of coal and to provide input to the government in order to improve the investment climate for downstream coal industry.

"Therefore, efforts should be made to conserve coal, especially low quality coal, in order to secure domestic supply so that we can increase the added value in the future," he said.

In addition to those efforts, added Ridwan, mining must be carried out by paying attention to the fulfillment of environmental obligations, employing 'good mining practices', and, undoubtedly, providing maximum benefits for communities living around mine sites and the people of Indonesia. (IY)

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