French business delegation gets to see Indonesia firsthand
French business delegation gets to see Indonesia firsthand
Debbie A. Lubis, The Jakarta Post, Jakarta
After a three-day business visit to Indonesia, a delegation of
French businessmen concluded that Indonesia is not as bad as it
is depicted in the foreign press, and that the country would
remain attractive to foreign investors.
Head of the French business delegation Phillipe Louis Dreyfus
said that, while Indonesia was facing various problems, he was
convinced that the government could resolve them to create a
conducive atmosphere for investment.
"The reality is Indonesia is working," Dreyfus told reporters
late on Wednesday on the sidelines of a function held at the
French ambassador's residence.
Around 32 executives from 21 prominent companies in France
operating in the banking sector, oil, gas, shipping,
telecommunications, as well as consultancies, visited Indonesia
this week.
The business executives met with President Megawati
Soekarnoputri, senior government officials, legislators, members
of the Indonesian Chamber of Commerce and Industry (KADIN) and
several local business associations.
"It is the right time to do more business in Indonesia and we
hope we will find the ideal climate," Dreyfus said.
He said that what French businesses needed was not investment
incentives but primarily security guarantees and legal certainty
when operating businesses here.
French businesses, according to Dreyfus, are interested in
investing in joint venture scheme in sectors like agriculture,
oil and gas, commodity trading, shipping, telecommunications,
finance and banking, hotel and infrastructure construction.
He declined to provide investment target figures.
"In business you have targets but you do not express it freely
because international business is very difficult to achieve," he
said.
He also said that French companies were not newcomers in
Indonesia because there are already names like supermarket
Carrefour, oil and gas company TotalfinaElf, carmaker Renault,
and mineral water bottler Danone, which have been operating in
the country for a few years.
France ranked 17th in terms of foreign direct investment (FDI)
in Indonesia with approved FDI of around US$10.5 million between
January and July, 2001.