Japanese bank to promote direct investment in RI

Japanese bank to promote direct investment in RI

JAKARTA (JP): The Investment Coordinating Board and the Bank
of Nagoya from Japan signed a general agreement yesterday to
promote direct investment from Japan to Indonesia.

"This is our fifth agreement of its kind signed so far with
our Japanese counterparts," board chairman Sanyoto Sastrowardoyo,
who is also state minister for investment, said at the signing
ceremony.

The board signed a similar agreement with Bank of Tokyo in
August 1990, the Daiwa Bank of Kyoto in September 1990, the Fuji
Limited/Fuji Research Institute Corporation in February last year
and the Nomura Research Institute of Kobe last October.

Under yesterday's agreement, the investment board will provide
information on investment conditions and opportunities in
Indonesia and other matters pertaining to investment. The Bank of
Nagoya will deliver the information to clients interested in
expanding their businesses to Indonesia.

The Bank of Nagoya can also organize business missions to
Indonesia or business gatherings in Japan, to which the
investment board would send officials to present the investment
opportunities in Indonesia.

Japan has been the largest foreign investor in Indonesia since
1967. With a cumulative investment of US$23.05 billion in 735
projects, Japan is responsible for 18.5 percent of the total
foreign investment in Indonesia of US$124.7 billion.

During the first seven months of this year, the investment
board approved $29.4 billion in foreign investment in 477
projects, far exceeding the 1994 figure of $23.7 billion in 449
projects. In the January to July period, approved Japanese
investment reached $1.6 billion in 82 projects, making it the
fourth largest foreign investing country after Britain (with
investments worth $5.6 billion), Australia ($3.4 billion) and the
United States ($2.6 billion).

Akihiro Aoi, the managing director and vice president of the
Bank of Nagoya, said his bank's corporate clients include large
scale corporations and small and medium scale firms. The latter
are becoming increasingly interested in Indonesia.

"These medium and small scale firms in Central Japan have
become the major clientele of our bank," said Aoi. "They have
recently been deeply impressed by the rapid economic growth and
firm industrial development in Southeast Asia, especially in
Indonesia, and, therefore, they are strongly motivated to invest
in this country."

The Bank of Nagoya, as indicated by its name, has its head
office in Nagoya in Central Japan. It has 126 branches throughout
the major industrial area between Tokyo and Osaka. (rid)