Indonesia set to settle dispute with Cemex

The government will continue to seek out of court settlement for its long dispute with Cemex Asia over the divestment of the share of cement factory PT Semen Gresik. Cemex holds 25 per cent of the shares of the state-owned cement maker and dispute arose when the government failed to divest the majority share of PT Semen Gresik as arranged in contract as its subsidiary PT Semen Padang refused to be sold to foreign investors.  Minister for State Enterprises Laksamana Sukardi said the government will facilitate consortium or investors to buy the entire share of Cemex in Semen Gresik.

Cemex already filed an arbitration proceeding at International Centre for Settlement of Investment Disputes against the government in December, 2003.  Cemex accepted out of court settlement on condition that the government either buys back all the shares it has sold to it or sells its remaining shares in Semen Gresik to Cemex. Laksamana said he was optimistic the dispute could be settled out of court.