US Companies Eying More Than $1b Investment in Indonesia

Jakarta Globe, Arientha Primanita, May 04, 2015

Workers clean the windows of an office building in Central Jakarta on
April 23, 2015. (Antara Photo/Andika Wahyu)

Jakarta. A delegation of top executives from 10 major US companies arrived in Jakarta on Monday, as they seek to forge stronger business relationships in Indonesia and are collectively considering more than $1 billion in new investment over the next three to five years.

US-Asean Business council, the organizer of the visit, said in a statement on Monday that the envoy is scheduled to meet government officials and business leaders in Indonesia — including President Joko Widodo; the Coordinating Minister for Economic Affairs Sofyan Djlail; and chairman of the Indonesian Investment Coordination Board (BKPM) Franky Sibarani.

They are also scheduled to meet Lim Hong Hin deputy secretary general if the Association of the Southeast Asian Nations; the chairman of the Indonesian Employers Association (Apindo), Hariyadi Sukamdani; and senior leaders of the Indonesian Chamber of Commerce (Kadin).

The delegation includes companies from Ace Group, Cigna, the Coca-Cola Company, DuPont, Intel, Medtronic, Monsanto, and Procter & Gamble, of which all have a business presence in Indonesia.

“The companies on the delegation have substantial investments in Indonesia which support millions of jobs, and are collectively planning or considering more than $1 billion in new investment in the next 3-5 years,” US-Asean Business council said in the statement.

Most of the US investment in Indonesia has been from large oil and gas exploration firms such as Chevron and ExxonMobil, and diversity of investment into other sectors from US companies in the Indonesian economy has been small by comparison.

March Mealy, vice president for Policy at the US-Asean Business Council, praised Joko’s administration for its impressive slate of economic reform achievements in the first semester since taking office.

He said Joko’s economic policies — such as the fuel subsidy reduction; a one-stop shop for licensing launched in January; and the revised State Budget for 2015 that gave room for more infrastructure and social spending — made notable differences in the business environment.

“We look forward to continuing to work together on other key issue areas to enhance the domestic business environment and unleash Indonesia’s full trade and investment potential,” Mealy said in the statement.

Prakash Mallya, managing director for Southeast Asia at Intel, said the company believes that technology is the great equalizer leading to positive impacts for businesses, people and society.

“As Indonesia embarks its journey on a new economic frontier, Intel together with US-Asean Business Council is committed to accelerate key government programs on e-education, e-government, e-health, e-logistic, e-procurement as well as overall implementation of National Broadband Plan,” he said.

The companies of the US-Asean Business Council also gave their support for regional integration through the Asean Economic Community set to launch at the end of this year.

Patrick Graham, chief executive officer of the Asia-Pacific region for insurance company Cigna, said that companies are willing to enable greater regional connectivity and integration to build sustainable business, communities and governments that meet the challenging needs and opportunities present in the region.

“I am confident that this Mission will bring to the forefront the key priorities of the private sector to key leaders in the region and set the stage for even more fruitful partnerships and engagement in years to come,” Graham said

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