Switzerland and Indonesia sign deal on access to raw materials

Switzerland plans to boost investment in Indonesia in exchange for greater access to minerals and metals. Keystone-SDA

Switzerland has signed a Memorandum of Understanding with Indonesia that will facilitate access to critical minerals and metals. In return, Switzerland has committed to promote investment in Indonesia.

This Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) is of great importance to the tech industry, “as it depends on the availability of numerous raw materials”, Swissmem, the umbrella organisation for the machinery and technology industry, explained in a press release on Tuesday.

According to the State Secretariat for Economic Affairs (SECO), the MoU was due to be signed by the Swiss President, Guy Parmelin, and the Indonesian Minister for Investment and Downstreaming, Rosan Roeslani, during Swissmem’s Industry Day in Basel. Due to Roeslani’s last-minute absence, the document was “symbolically signed by Ambassador Andrea Rauber Saxer, who heads the Division for Bilateral Economic Relations at SECO, and the Indonesian Ambassador, Ngurah Swajaya,” a SECO spokesperson told the AWP news agency.

The MoU must now be signed separately by the two ministers in Jakarta and Bern. The agreement will come into force once this process has been completed.

SECO points out that it contains no binding clauses regarding a specific investment amount on the part of Switzerland. “Switzerland intends to support Indonesia so that the extraction and processing of metals and rare earths – particularly those used by the technology industry – are carried out in a sustainable manner,” said the spokesperson.

Swiss private investment in this sector is also planned. In return, Indonesia has committed to ensuring open trade in raw materials and guaranteeing access to these resources.

Translated from French, sub-edited by jdp