Indonesia Investment Up 28% in a Year: BKPM

Jakarta Globe, Francezka Nangoy, October 23, 2013

A girl walks past a construction site for luxury apartments in Jakarta in
August, 2013. (Reuters Photo)

Investment in Indonesia continued to grow during the third quarter of this year, despite concerns that much of the shine had been taken off the country’s economy in recent months.

“Indonesia is still attractive for new investment,” Mahendra Siregar, the new chief of the Indonesia Investment Coordinating Board (BKPM), told reporters on Wednesday. “Also, companies that have already established here for years continue to expand their businesses, showing confidence in the economy.”

Mahendra said that from the period of July to September, total realized direct investment reached Rp 100.5 trillion ($8.9 billion) — a 23 percent year-on-year increase and the first time the figure had edged above Rp 100 trillion.

During the first nine months of the year, total investment in Indonesia rose 28 percent to Rp 293.3 trillion — 75 percent of the BKPM’s full-year target of Rp 390 trillion. The figure consists of Rp 199.2 trillion in foreign direct investment and Rp 94.1 trillion in domestic funding.

Mahendra said his agency held confidence that the trend would meet the target for 2013.