VDNI signed a memorandum of understanding (MoU) on the matter with the Konawe administration on Wednesday. The company agreed to absorb the workforce while the administration agreed to headhunt workers, who will start working once the smelter installation was finished.

“We are committed to employing local workers. But recruitment will be done in stages, as needed,” VDNI spokesman Indrayanto told The Jakarta Post from nickel-rich Southeast Sulawesi on Thursday.

He said the company would hire 2,500 local workers in the first phase. These workers would become smelter operators, which were priority positions that VDNI needed filled. Indrayanto did not detail the successive phases.

Indrayanto also said the company had brought in 261 out of the 500 Chinese workers as of Thursday. The remaining third batch was supposed to arrive last week but the arrival was delayed due to local protests.

Virtue Dragon, which is developing Indonesia’s largest nickel smelter, plays a key role in realizing the central government’s ambition of transforming mineral-rich Indonesia from a commodity-driven economy to an industrial economy.

The smelter, last valued at US$1.4 billion, is slated to produce 600,000 tons of nickel pig iron (NPI) each year once fully completed in 2021.

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