"Certainly we appreciate the decision of the investor," Industry Minister Airlangga Hartarto said when receiving report from PT Bangun Palu Sulawesi Tengah, the operator of the Palu Special Economic Zone (KEK) that Japanese investor PT Hashimoto Gemilang Indonesia would not cancel investment plan at the KEK despite the recent earthquake and tsunami.
Palu was the hardest hit by the quake with a magnitude of 7.4 on the Richter scale that triggered tsunami causing a loss of almost 2,000 in Palu, Donggala, Sigi and other areas in Central Sulawesi.
On Sunday afternoon, the government said the death toll of the Central Sulawesi earthquake reached 1,944 with 683 people still missing feared dead and 2,549 others injured.
Airlangga was in Palu inspecting the damage caused by the quake to industry in the area and discussing with the regional administration ways of reviving the regional economy.
President Director of PT Bangun Palu Sulawesi Tengah Mulhanan Tombolotutu said PT Hashimoto Gemilang Indonesia plans to invest in industry producing chips from the shells of oil palm fruits shells to be exported as fuel for power generating plant.
The Japanese investors believed that Central Sulawesi including Palu would be safe at least for the next 50 years as the tsunami was a cycle of 50 years.
Reporting by Sella Panduarsa Gareta
Editing by Albert Saragih, Bustanuddin
Reporter: Sella Panduarsa Gareta
Editor: Bustanuddin
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