Austria offers 13 economic cooperation projects

Antara News, Wednesday, November 10, 2010 20:53 WIB

Jakarta (ANTARA News) - Austria has offered 13 economic cooperation projects covering infrastructure development in various fields to Indonesia.

Indonesia`s Coordinating Minister for Economic Affairs Hatta Radjasa said here on Tuesday "we have agreed to increase cooperation in the economic field as the volume of trade between the two countries has not yet reflected its potentials."

He made the statement in a press conference after receiving Austria`s economic minister Reinhold Mitterlehner and delegation at his office.

Hatta said although the trade balance and Austrian investment in the country was not too big the two countries had agreed to encourage businessmen of the two countries to increase cooperation in various fields.

"We will increase the bilateral cooperation not only in the field of trade but also investment such as in the renewable energy technology, health service, transportation and other infrastructure that we would be badly in need in the future," he said.

He said he hoped through Austria which has a strategic position in the Central Europe Indonesia could also expand its market in Europe.

"With Austria`s strategic position we hope we can promote cooperation to a higher level. Austria meanwhile could develop biofuel energy with the raw materials coming from Indonesia or set up a plant here," he said.

Hatta said the 13 cooperation projects had been included in the government`s blue book and were still being further processed including carbon emission reduction and transportation projects.

"We have received an offer of a transportation system such as cable car which is like a light train is cheap and potential. In big cities it is effective and can serve as a feeding car to serve an integrated transportation system," he said.

Austria`s economic minister Reinhold Mitterlehner meanwhile said he hoped his visit with a 50-member business delegation would increase bilateral economic relations and cooperation between the two countries including in renewable energy development.

"The two countries have a common goal of reducing carbon emissions and therefore we have offered infrastructure projects and we are hoping for a concrete result from the cooperation," he said.

He said Indonesia and Austria could also use the cooperation opportunity for opening trade representatives in Austria and for Austrian private companies to participate in the financing of infrastructure projects in Indonesia through public-private partnership.

Among the cooperation projects that Austria had presented include the development of a hospital in cooperation between AME International GmbH and the ministry of defense, provision of hydro power equipment between Andritz Hydro GmbH and PT PLN and the ministry of public works, provision of high-tech solutions in various fields, development of powertrain system between AVL List GmbH and the ministry of education, development and provision of machinery and system for railway maintenance between Plasser&Theurer Export von Bahnbaumshinen GmbH and the Directorate General of Railway of the ministry of transportation.

Other projects include provision of concepts of development and operations in the health service between VAMED Engineering GmbH & Co. KG with the ministry of defense, transportation system between VAE GmbH and the Directorate General of Railway.

It has offered projects in the production of railway lines for electricity train service between Doppelmayr Seilbahnen GmbH and PT Saratoga Infrastructure, provision of communication and information system in the fields of air transportation and public safety between Requentis AG and the ministry of transportation, the ministry of home affairs and the ministry of fisheries and marine resources.

Austria has also offered cooperation projects in tsunami-related business consultancy between ICR GmbH and the ministry of communication and information, for the provision of railway technology equipment between LISINGER Maschinenbau GmbH and the Directorate General of Railway , and for the provision of information security system between Mils Electonic GmbH & Co KG with the ministry of defense and the ministry of domestic affairs, and for the provision for a system of waste water processing between Ovivo Austria GmbH and the ministry of defense.

RI one of Anticorruption Academy founders

The Jakarta Post, Jakarta | Wed, 09/08/2010 9:16 AM

JAKARTA: Indonesia has become a signatory for the establishment of the United Nations’ International Anticorruption Academy in Vienna, Austria together with 29 countries.

“We hope the government will ratify the agreement soon,” Corruption Eradication Commission (KPK) deputy chairman Haryono Umar said Tuesday.

He added that the academy would be open to anticorruption practitioners at public as well as private institutions at the local and regional as well as international levels.

Launched on Sept. 2 by UN Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon, the academy is a joint initiative by the Austrian government, the UN Office on Drugs and Crime, and the European Anti-Fraud Office and will come into full operation next year.

It is earmarked as a pioneering institution that aims to overcome current shortcomings in knowledge and practice in the field of anti-corruption.

It will function as an independent center of excellence in the field of anticorruption education, training, networking and cooperation, as well as of academic research, the academy says on its website, www.iaca-info.org. — JP

Swiss German school to have own campus

The Jakarta Post. Wed, 11/12/2008 10:42 AM  

TANGERANG: After eight years of operating in Tangerang, the Swiss German University (SGU) plans to build its own campus on a 10-hectare plot of land in Bumi Serpong Damai (BSD) satellite city in Tangerang, Banten. 

The first stone for the new campus complex was put in place Tuesday. The event was witnessed by German Ambassador to Indonesia Paul Freiher von Maltzan, who is also the honorable chairman of the SGU Foundation, Austrian ambassador Klaus Woelfer and Swiss ambassador Bernardino Regazzoni. 

Fasli Jalal, the director of higher education at the Education Ministry, SGU rector Peter Psceihd, the SGU board of patronage and management, and the PT BSD board of directors were also present. 

The planned campus complex will be equipped with lecture rooms, a parking area, pedestrian facilities, a caf*, rectorate building, auditorium, sports hall, soccer field and other facilities. 

Since it was established in 2000, SGU has been renting a space in the German Centre building in BSD. 

The university is a government and privately sponsored university. It is managed by the SGU Foundation, which is a joint German, Austrian, Swiss and Indonesian venture.  

SGU offers 13 courses, with about 900 students.

Austrian firms may set up biodiesel businesses here

The Jakarta Post, Jakarta

At least three Austrian companies are investigating the possibility of becoming involved in the "green energy" business here to help boost the development of biodiesel.

"Energea, BioDiesel International and the Christof Group are discussing the biodiesel business with a number of leading Indonesian agribusiness companies," Austrian Commercial Counsellor Raymund Gradt told The Jakarta Post on Monday.

"The three Austrian companies could provide the technology to build biodiesel refineries jointly with local firms," he said.

He declined, however, to name their Indonesian counterparts as the two sides had been in discussions for more than a year, but had yet to reach finalize any deals.

The three Austrian companies are leading technology solution providers for biodiesel production and currently produce a total of 440,000 tons of biodiesel per annum, more than half of their country's annual demand of around 700,000-800,000 tons.

They are on a mission to leverage biodiesel production in connection with the European Union's program of increasing the contribution of green energy -- biodiesel and biofuel -- from 3.4 percent this year to 20 percent in 2020.

Austria, whose green-energy share already stands at 21 percent, wants to double this to 40 percent by then.

"Certain Austrian companies are also interested in acquiring biodiesel from Indonesia and are looking into the possibility of using jatropha as a raw material. This is because it's cheaper than palm oil, and can be used both in winter and summer," Gradt said, will refraining from naming the companies.

Austrian companies were also sounding out the possibility of building biodiesel refineries in other countries besides Indonesia, and also acquiring jatropha from them. Malaysia, India and Egypt were potential candidates in this regard.

The Austrian government would also hold symposiums on biodiesel and renewable energy in Malaysia, Singapore and Indonesia on Nov. 26-27, Nov. 28 and Nov. 29, respectively, so as to clinch partnerships in the green sector.

Gradt said that between five and eight Austrian companies, and a number of research institutes, such as the Biodiesel Institute and the Austrian Energy Agency, and universities, as well as Indonesian businesses, research institutes and universities, were expected to attend the Indonesian symposium.

Currently, a number of foreign companies have already committed to establishing bioenergy businesses here.

China's biggest energy firm, CNOOC, signed an agreement early this year to team up with Indonesia's Sinar Mas Agro Resources and Technology, and Hong Kong Energy, to develop 1 million hectares of plantations and refineries worth US$5.5 billion in Papua and Kalimantan.

Malaysia-based Genting Biofuels Asia has also pledged to invest $3 billion in green energy, and a joint Indonesian-Malaysian venture $1 billion.

Austria interested in investing in biofuel in Indonesia

Jakarta (ANTARA News) - Austria was interested in investing in a biofuel industry development, both from crude palm oil and jatropha curcas plants, according to a diplomat.

Austrian Ambassador to Indonesia Klaus Wofer made the statement in Purwakarta, West Java, on Friday after attending the inauguration of a waste treatment industry of PT South Pacific Viscouse (SPV), which is a rayon fiber producer of Austria.

"A number of Austrian companies are interested in investing in biofuel sector as the demand for biofuel in Europe is increasing," Ambassador Wofer said.

He said that biofuel development was very potential to be carried out in Indonesia for exports to European countries.

The ambassador said that a number of Austrian businessmen would hold a seminar in Indonesia in October and November this year on biofuel development by presenting Austrian experts as speakers.

The Austrian Ambassador said that his country`s total investment in Indonesia currently reached up to US$300 million. One of the Austrian investments was PT South Pacific Viscouse, which is a subsidiary of Lenzig AG.

Other Austrian investments in Indonesia included those in the sectors of environmental technology, medical equipment, and clean air quality technology.

South Pacific awaits green light to lift fiber output

The Jakarta Post, Jakarta

PT South Pacific Viscose (SPV), the country's largest viscose fiber manufacturer, expects to increase production next year amid rising demand for fibers on both the global and domestic markets.

SPV said Friday it was negotiating with its parent company -- Austria-based Lenzing, the world's leading cellulose fiber producer -- to set up a new production plant.

"We are hoping for the green light from SPV's owners by the second half of this year," said president director Guenther J. Krohn after the inauguration of SPV's expanded wastewater treatment plant and a new waste gas treatment plant at its factory in Purwakarta, West Java.

"It's hard to convince SPV's owners as (the new line) will require a major investment," he added.

SPV, which currently produces 150,000 tons of viscose fibers per annum, is planning to operate at its full capacity of 154,000 tons per annum by the end of this year, Krohn said.

If SPV received the go-ahead from its parent, he said, it would need US$120 million to build a new plant with a capacity of another 50,000 tons of fiber per annum.

SPV, Krohn said, had increased its production capacity over the past four years from 120,000 tons per annum to the current level through a process of "debottlenecking and improving machinery efficiency without the need for a major investment."

The fiber SPV produces is used as raw material by garment and yarn manufacturers, as well as by non-woven industries like the manufacturers of beauty and medical products.

According to the Industry Ministry's director general for metal, machinery, textile and miscellaneous industries, Ansari Bukhari, who visited the factory for the inauguration ceremony, the country's two cellulose fiber producers -- SPV and PT Indo Barat Rayon -- only supplied 110,000 tons per annum to the domestic market, amounting to only half the country's demand, which amounts to some 200,000 tons a year.

SPV's Southeast Asia marketing manager Ida Purnama Sirait said the country imported its remaining fiber needs from Thailand, India, China and Taiwan, with the latter supplying the most.

Meanwhile, Ansari said he hoped the two domestic producers could further increase production and pay more attention to the domestic market as SPV only sold 60 percent of its production on the local market, and Indo Barat, which produces around 100,000 tons of fiber per annum, only sold 80 percent.

High fiber prices on the global market, he said, had encouraged producers to sell their output overseas.

Ida said that fiber on the domestic market was priced at around $1.7 per kilogram last year and $2 this year, while fiber sold on the world market for between $2.70 and $3.

"Fiber prices are rising as the prices of pulp, the raw material for fibers, are going up, combined with high global oil prices and high demand for fiber," she said.

Austrian Ambassador to Indonesia Klaus W”lfer, who was also at the inauguration ceremony, said Austrian companies had invested a total of $300 million in Indonesia, with SPV being the biggest investor.