Government Encourages Arun Lhokseumawe KEK Development Towards A Green Industrial Area

Illustration (Photo: Doc. Antara)

JAKARTA - A State-Owned Enterprise (BUMN) signed the Head of Agreement for Equity Investment in PT Patriot as the Development and Management Business Entity (BUPP) of Arun Lhokseumawe KEK.

The BUMN companies involved are PT Pertamina (Persero) together with other BUMNs, namely PT Pupuk Iskandar Muda, PT Pelindo, and PT Pembangunan Aceh.

Arun Lhokseumawe SEZ with an area of 2,600 hectares will focus on the energy, petrochemical, agro-industries supporting food security, logistics, and kraft paper-producing industries.

Apart from that, this area also has the potential for the development of the fishing industry and the agricultural industry with the support of superior commodities such as palm oil, coffee, cocoa, rubber, coconut, essential oils, and others.

SEZ Arun Lhokseumawe with its very strategic location has great potential to develop in the international trade market, especially ASEAN, so building Arun Lhokseumawe SEZ into a green industrial area is very important.

This was conveyed by the President of the Republic of Indonesia Joko Widodo in his remarks at the inauguration ceremony.

"We hope that the Arun Lhokseumawe KEK area will later become a green industrial area. Investors will start coming here and we hope this will have an effect on the GRDP of Aceh province. It is estimated that the Ministry of SOEs can influence 7 percent of GRDP in Aceh," said Jokowi in his remarks, Friday 10 February.

In line with Jokowi, BUMN Minister Erick Thohir said that currently, the development continues to be encouraged in Aceh Province.

This is to ensure that Aceh becomes a source of energy as well as improving national food.

"Under the support of the President, we are continuing to build at this time. We care about how investing in Aceh is a continuation of changes that really make the people of Aceh prosperous in particular," Erick explained.

Erick explained, to ensure that the development of the Arun Lhokseumawe SEZ could run optimally, a consortium was formed between BUMNs.

The tasks of each BUMN include Pertamina developing the energy sector (oil and gas) along with supporting infrastructure facilities, PT Pupuk Iskandar Muda together with PT Pupuk Indonesia Group to develop an environmentally friendly Petrochemical industrial cluster.

Meanwhile, PT Pelindo I will handle ports and logistics, and PT Pembangunan Aceh will develop agro-industries to support food security.

Pertamina will later assign one of its affiliates in Sub Holding Gas, namely PT Perta Arun Gas (PAG) to participate in capital in SEZ Arun Lhokseumawe.

PAG will focus on providing clean energy for SEZ Arun Lhokseumawe through the LNG Regasification facility and LNG Hub.

In 2022, PAG has supplied 52,559 BBTU for the needs of PLN power plants in Aceh and North Sumatra, supplying gas for the fertilizer factory owned by Pupuk Iskandar Muda and the industry in North Sumatra.

Main Director of PT Pertamina (Persero), Nicke Widyawati hopes that this synergy among BUMNs will be a good start in supporting the acceleration of the realization of the development of SEZ Arun Lhokseumawe towards a green industrial area.

The use of LNG will provide certainty of clean energy supply which is also in line with efforts to achieve Net Zero Emissions (NZE) 2060.

"Pertamina as an energy BUMN is committed to providing energy to all regions of Indonesia. With the supply of LNG, it is hoped that it can support the smooth operation of SEZ Arun Lhokseumawe, which of course will have an impact on improving the economy of Aceh Province as well as providing jobs for Acehnese children," explained Nicke.

Going forward, PAG will develop other LNG businesses that can support efforts to build energy security in the Aceh and Sumatra regions as well as play an active role in energy transition efforts by providing clean energy solution providers.