French slow to exploit business opportunities
French slow to exploit business opportunities
JAKARTA (JP): French investors acknowledged yesterday that they lag behind in business opportunities in Indonesia.
A deputy director of the confederation of French industrial and service companies (CNPF), Jean Dromer, said here yesterday that French investors are mostly unaware of the huge business opportunities in Indonesia.
"I think this is the main reason why the size of French investments in Indonesia is still smaller than those of Germany and Britain," he told journalists.
He said that Indonesia's foreign investment policy is very encouraging to foreign investors, particularly after the government launched its deregulation measures in May last year.
He saw no significant problems either in licensing procedures or in the taxation system in Indonesia.
Dromer was one of approximately 250 French businessmen attending a two-day seminar on investment opportunities yesterday. The seminar participants also included Paul-Henri Denieuil, chairman of the French national committee for foreign trade.
Dromer said the trend of French overseas investments is changing, with many French companies now turning to Asian countries for their future expansion.
He said that the presence of the 250 French executives in the seminar reflected the change in the French investors' perception about doing businesses in Indonesia.
The value of French investments in Indonesia totals approximately US$1.2 billion at present, excluding about $1 billion in the oil industry and another $200 million in the banking industry. France, the world's fourth largest investor, ranked the 14th in the lineup of foreign investors in Indonesia, behind Britain and Germany.
Too low
Jean-Michel Severyns, the residential director of GEC Alsthom in Indonesia, said that French investments in Indonesia are, in fact, too low given the large size of its total investments in the world.
He said, however, that French direct investments in Indonesia would likely grow more rapidly in the coming years as a result of the positive change in the mentality of French investors.
"The trend is changing and we want to speed it up," he said about the growing interest of French businessmen in investing in Indonesia.
CNPF executives, the sponsors of the seminar, were scheduled to visit senior government officials, including Coordinating Minister for Industry and Trade Hartarto and Coordinating Minister for Economy and Finance Saleh Afiff, during their Indonesian visit.
Dromer said the CNPF representatives would not raise any particular topics during the meeting. "We just want to express our intention to benefit the business opportunities in Indonesia," he said.(hen)