TEMPO.CO, Jakarta - Indonesian Investment Minister and Head of the Investment Coordinating Board (BKPM) Bahlil Lahadalia, revealed the government's plan to extend the management of PT Freeport Indonesia. He said discussions on this issue have been carried out intensively.

“The government is mulling over extending it, but with the addition of shares. The government will add about 10 percent more shares,” Bahlil said after a press conference at the BKPM office, South Jakarta on Friday, April 28, 2023.

He explained that Freeport, which now belongs to Indonesia with 51 percent share ownership, has the potential to boost state revenue given that its income continues to improve over the years.

Moreover, in Freeport's report to the government, Bahlil disclosed that the SOE's debt in taking over Freeport would most likely be paid off in 2024. This condition, he argued, would further strengthen the Indonesian government's plan to extend Freeport management.

The Indonesian government also planned to ask Freeport to build a smelter in Papua. “So we will ask them to build a smelter not only in Gresik but also in Papua,” Bahlil added.

As previously reported, Freeport is currently building a smelter in the Java Integrated and Industrial Port Estate (JIIPE) area in Manyar, Gresik, East Java. The project is targeted to be completed by the end of 2023, and commissioning will begin by the end of May 2024. The smelter which will be operated commercially by the end of 2024, according to the Investment Minister, will be one of the largest in the world.

Bahlil said that the discussion on this plan is still ongoing yet almost complete. The Investment Ministry will soon announce the next steps to extend the management of PT Freeport Indonesia.

RIANI SANUSI PUTRI

Editor's Choice: Freeport McMoran CEO Meets with Jokowi for Talks of Smelter

Click here to get the latest news updates from Tempo in Google News