RI, PNG agree to ‘soft’ border approach | The Jakarta Post

RI, PNG agree to ‘soft’ border approach | The Jakarta Post

Indonesia and its neighbor Papua New Guinea (PNG) agreed to use a “soft” approach in the border areas between the two nations often used by separatists to evade Indonesian security forces, leaders of the two countries stated on Monday.

PNG Prime Minister Peter O’Neill led a delegation of government officials and business leaders on a three-day visit to Jakarta on Monday, aimed at strengthening bilateral ties between the two neighboring countries.

“Soft border management will mean citizens of both countries will interact better economically and socially,” President Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono said during a joint press conference after the meeting. “We agreed to renew the border arrangement.”

Yudhoyono also thanked PNG for its consistency in supporting Indonesia’s sovereignty while O’Neill said both countries “continue to respect each other’s sovereignty”.

It was the second meeting between Yudhoyono and O’Neill after a bilateral meeting on the sidelines of the Bali Democracy Forum last year.

The two leaders signed 11 deals, including the agreement on border arrangements, as well as an extradition treaty and agreements on trade and education cooperation, at a bilateral meeting at the State Palace on Monday.

The approximately 760-kilometer land border between PNG and Indonesia’s Papua province is also host to many other issues, including poverty and illegal crossing by various tribes and people from Papua.

Critics have said poverty in border areas is a result of the implementation of a security approach during Indonesia’s New Order regime.

Yudhoyono, however, would not say whether or not the currently out-of-date Indonesia-PNG border crossing cards were also discussed in the meeting.

The Indonesia-Papua New Guinea border in Skouw-Wutung, just outside Jayapura, Papua, was reopened to border crossers on May 20 after being closed for around three weeks.

PNG had banned Indonesians from entering PNG on the grounds that their border crossing cards had expired on March 18.

The cards were valid from March 18, 2003, based on an agreement between both governments on border arrangements signed on March 18, 2003.

Yudhoyono went on to say the extradition treaty was also important for Indonesia.

His statement comes in the wake of the case of Indonesian corruption fugitive Joko Tjandra, who
fled to PNG where he was granted citizenship.

Attorney General Basrief Arief said on the sidelines of the event that the process of extradition would now be easier, including that for Joko. However, he did not disclose when Indonesia would ask PNG to repatriate Joko.

PNG and Indonesia signed a treaty of mutual respect, cooperation and friendship on Oct. 27 1986 to regulate relations and define rights and obligations in border areas. In the ensuing years, the countries have held regular meetings to discuss bilateral issues.

O’Neill told the press conference on Monday that the meeting had set a foundation for better cooperation between the two countries, particularly on border management and extradition.

He welcomed the decision to implement softer border management so that the people of PNG could engage better with Indonesians, saying that PNG “is ready to assist Indonesia in addressing the many challenges in those areas”.

Trade was also on the agenda of O’Neill’s trip to Indonesia as the two countries signed a memorandum of understanding on petroleum and resource management.

“It is important for us to do business with Indonesian business people,” O’Neill said.

On May 21, Indonesia agreed to team up with Papua New Guinea to explore potential oil and gas reserves in border areas as the former shifts its oil and gas exploration focus to the eastern part of the archipelago.

Energy and Mineral Resources Minister Jero Wacik said after a meeting with PNG Public Enterprises and State Investment Minister Ben Micah that “the border possesses a huge amount of unexplored oil and gas reserves, according to data obtained by our team”.

Micah said his country also hoped its national petroleum companies would form a joint venture with oil and gas firm PT Pertamina to jointly develop hydrocarbon reserves in the areas.

RI and PNG plan joint exploration in border areas | The Jakarta Post

RI and PNG plan joint exploration in border areas | The Jakarta Post

Indonesia has agreed to team up with neighboring Papua New Guinea (PNG) to explore potential oil and gas reserves in border areas as the former shifts its oil and gas exploration focus to the eastern part of the archipelago.

Energy and Mineral Resources Minister Jero Wacik said after a meeting with PNG Public Enterprises and State Investment Minister Ben Micah on Tuesday that the two countries would work together by establishing
joint operations to explore oil and gas reserves.

Indonesia’s Papua province, located in the eastern part of the nation, shares a 760-kilometer land border with PNG. The two nations currently have a few territorial disputes along the border, in areas with poor infrastructure.

“The border possesses a huge amount of unexplored oil and gas reserves, according to data obtained by our team. Economically, it would be easier to jointly explore these untapped resources,” Jero said in Jakarta.

“This is also important to maintain security along our border.”

Jero did not go into detail on which blocks the two countries planned to develop, but said they would also focus on building more infrastructure in border areas to support the energy and mining partnership.

Separately, Micah said his country also hoped its national petroleum companies would form a joint venture with oil and gas firm PT Pertamina to jointly develop hydrocarbon reserves in the areas.

PNG has two state-owned oil and gas firms, namely National Petroleum Company of Papua New Guinea (NPCP), which focuses on LNG and oil projects, and Petromin PNG Holdings Ltd., which
controls the nation’s petroleum and mining assets.

According to Micah, a number of major oil and gas companies, including France’s Total SA and Royal Dutch Shell, were currently exploring oil and gas resources in PNG. US-based ExxonMobil’s latest Asia Pacific liquefied natural gas (LNG) project is in New Guinea.

Pertamina CEO Karen Agustiawan, who was also present at Tuesday’s meeting, said her company would sign a joint study agreement with PNG’s national oil and gas company to develop resources. “We are also interested in entering PNG,” she said.

According to interim upstream watchdog SKKMigas, one of the blocks located near the Indonesia-PNG border is the Warim block, for which American oil and gas firm ConocoPhillips won the contract in 1989.

ConocoPhillips drilled six wells and spent US$98 million on exploration activities from 1990 to 1998 before the government declared the area a protected forest. SKKMigas exploration chief Nugrahani said in a text message on Tuesday that ConocoPhillips had been offered a contract renewal, which would enable the contractor to explore the Warim block for another five years.

“They will be given 15 years to exploit the block should they find profitable hydrocarbon reserves,” she said.

Indonesia, which left the Organization of Petroleum Exporting Countries (OPEC) in 2008, has set its sights on the eastern part of the archipelago for exploration following the maturation of major onshore oil and gas blocks in the western part.