Indonesia Dirk Niebel visits geo­thermal ener­gy pro­ject in Indonesia

09.01.2013 -

Berlin - Dirk Niebel is continuing his tour of Indonesia, holding further meetings and visiting projects that form part of German-Indonesian de­vel­op­ment co­op­er­a­tion.

At his meeting with the Minister of Forestry, Zulkifli Hasan, discussion fo­cused on the two countries' work together on green issues. Niebel com­ment­ed, Paradoxical though it may seem, if the rainforest is not used com­mer­cial­ly, its very survival is under threat. Instead of com­plete­ly shun­ning tropical timber, it is better for people to buy sus­tain­ably pro­duced timber from trop­i­cal forests and make sure it is certified or labelled. Sus­tain­able man­age­ment of forests helps to protect them over the long term. And, at the same time, it also helps local communities and local businesses, who make a living from the forest.

Dirk Niebel will also be travelling to Solo in Central Java, where he will visit a German-Indonesian project in the field of vocational education that has now been successfully completed. The Minister said, The concept that was ap­plied here, with Germany's support, proved success­ful. So now the Indo­ne­si­an gov­ern­ment is refining it and applying it in more locations. That shows true ownership on Indonesia's part.

The last stop on the Minister's tour will be North Sulawesi, where he will be finding out about planned German-Indonesian de­vel­op­ment projects in the field of renewable energies. Germany has committed itself to support Indo­nesia's national geo­thermal programme at the sites of at least two power stations. Looking to the future, it also plans to support Indonesia in efforts to ensure that the smaller and more remote islands also gain access to clean, sustainable forms of energy. Niebel commented, Our involvement in the field of renewable energies clearly shows how important Indonesia is to Germany as a partner in in­ter­na­ti­o­nal efforts to mitigate climate change.

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