Vice President Jusuf Kalla. (JP/Awo)

Vice President Jusuf Kalla has said that Indonesia will lose out on foreign investment if the government does not extend the contract of PT Freeport Indonesia to continue operating its gold mine in Papua and allows the company to leave the country.

"If we did not maintain [the existing] investment, how could we invite other investors," said Kalla in Jakarta on Wednesday as reported by tribunnews.com.

The Vice President stressed that Indonesia badly needed more investors to speed up economic growth and to reduce unemployment and therefore on any visit to other countries the government'€™s representatives always tried to convince investors that investors'€™ interests would be protected.

The Freeport contract extension has been in the spotlight after Energy and Mineral Resources Minister Sudirman Said reported House of Representatives Speaker Setya Novanto to the House ethics council for meeting Freeport Indonesia president director Maroef Sjamsoeddin and allegedly claiming to have the approval of President Joko "Jokowi" Widodo and Kalla in asking for shares in Freeport in exchange for helping the company extend its contract.

Sudirman, Maroef and Setya have since testified before the ethics council.

The ethics council is currently deliberating whether they will summon other witnesses, particularly Muhammad Reza Chalid, an oil businessman, who accompanied Setya in the meeting with Maroef.

Jusuf Kalla said it was the task of the government to convince any potential investors and it would face difficulty in convincing investors if Freeport had to leave the country. (bbn).(+)

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