Making a visit to state-owned steel company PT Krakatau Steel in Cilegon, Banten province, on Thursday, Boediono said he was optimistic that steel industries in Indonesia will develop well.
"I am optimistic that we can develop steel industries in a relatively short time and that they also can raise the capacity of our upstream and downstreem steel industries," the vice president said.
Boediono on the occasion was among others accompanied by Industry Minister MS Hidayat and State Minister for State Enterprises Mustafa Abubakar.
In a bid to boost the steel production, Boediono said that in the couple of years to come, the company should make enough preparation.
The designed capacity of Krakatau Steel is 2.75 million tons per year.
The company`s target of production in 2014 is to raise upto 55 percent or 4.25 million tons per year, through revitalization and expansion program worth 1.3 billion U.S. Dollars.
In the meantime, the vice presidential spokesperson Yopie Hidayat said that extension of the Jakarta-Merak toll road need to be implemented in effort to overcome the infrastructure problem dealing with steel industry requirement.
In addition, loading and unloading capacity at the local seaport should be stepped up to 19 million tons per year, from the previous production of 10 million tons per year, he said.(*)
Editor: Heru Purwanto
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