Semen Indonesia's Myanmar investment discussions still ongoing

Semen Indonesia may withdraw from plans to invest in Myanmar if the company and its local partner fail to reach an amicable agreement over the partnership deal, a company executive has told the Jakarta Post.

Last year the state-owned Indonesian cement firm said it had decided to postpone its plan to acquire a cement firm in Myanmar after it missed its mid-year deadline to conclude negotiations.

Agung Wiharto, Semen Indonesia corporate secretary has now told local press that his company was facing another difficult round of discussions with its partner in Myanmar. "Negotiations are still ongoing, but we still haven't reached an agreement with our local partner on certain problems, including share price and the size of the stake to be acquired," he said.

Agung said that if the prices demanded by the local partner were too high, Semen Indonesia would either seek a different local company to cooperate with or move the expansion plan to another Asian country such as Vietnam, Cambodia or even Bangladesh.

"We want a more reasonable price as we will not only acquire a stake, we will also provide expertise, technology and human resources," he said.