Jetro promotes Japan investment in Indonesia
JAKARTA (JP): The Japan External Trade Organization (Jetro) will send three investment missions here during the remainder of this year in order to boost Japan's direct investments in Indonesia.
Masanori Osumi, chairman of Jetro's Jakarta office, said yesterday that the delegations would consist mainly of those who really want to expand their businesses into Indonesia.
"To encourage Japanese investors to come here is part of our jobs. So, it's in our benefits also to help the Indonesian government promote the country's investment projects to Japanese companies," Osumi said at a gathering with local journalists.
He said that Jetro would be the sole organizer of one of the three missions, while the other two would be organized by Jetro in cooperation with the Japan Overseas Development Cooperation.
To attract more Japanese investors, Osumi suggested that the Indonesian government further improve the country's business climate. "Without demeaning last May's deregulation package, I think the government still needs to further improve the country's business climate," he said.
The deregulation package, announced on May 23, lowers import tariffs on 6,030 items and removes restrictions on the importation of 81 items.
According to Jetro's survey of Japanese-affiliated manufacturers in the Association of Southeast Asian Nations, problems with customs procedures, bureaucracy, taxation, wage increases and violent exchange rate fluctuations plague Japanese affiliates in Indonesia.
The survey, whose results were released last month, was conducted last November and December with 282 respondents from Thailand, 254 from Malaysia, 174 from Indonesia, 141 from Singapore and 80 from the Philippines.
Of the total respondents from Indonesia, 84 (48.3 percent) said that their reason for establishing operations in Indonesia was to seek access to information on certain industries or markets, 18 (10.3) said they were here to set up an export production base for a third country, 17 said they were attracted by lower labor costs, 17 said they were responding to the appreciation of the yen and the other 16 said they were here at the request of assemblers in Japan.
According to a report prepared by the Japanese Ministry of Finance, quoted by Jetro, Indonesia is Japan's largest commutative investment destination in Asia since 1952, with 2,374 projects worth US$16.98 billion.
In addition to boosting Japan's investments here, Osumi said that Jetro was also helping the Indonesian government in its efforts to expand exports to Japan.
He said Indonesia's exporters, especially those who do not have agents in Japan, should use Japan's business support centers to promote their products in Japan.
"The centers are not yet well known among Indonesian traders. Maybe, they don't know that they can use the facilities free of charge for two weeks to two months," Osumi said, adding that there are only four or five Indonesian traders used the centers each year.
The business centers are currently located in Japan's five cities -- Nagoya, Kobe, Osaka, Tokyo and Yokohama.
Osumi said that Jetro could also send Japanese experts to Indonesian companies which needed them. To date, Jetro has sent over 100 experts to Indonesia. (rid)