Malaysia sees future in RI agro-industry
JAKARTA (JP): The chairman of the Malaysian Industrial Development Authority, Tan Sri Zainal Abidin Sulong, said Malaysian investors saw agro-based industry as one of the most promising sectors in Indonesia.
Sulong said Indonesia's vast land, abundant supply of labor and natural resources had attracted many Malaysian investors.
Many Malaysian investors seek business opportunities overseas as they face labor and land shortages at home, Sulong said here Thursday at a seminar titled "The Malaysia-Indonesia Partnership. The Jakarta Dialog"
The sectors Malaysian investors eye in Indonesia are agro- based industry, forestry-based industry, electronics, textile and textile products, transportation and finance.
Sulong said Malaysian businessmen see great prospects in palm oil, tea, rubber, coconut, sago palms, pineapple and banana plantations.
They also foresaw a bright business outlook for the cultivation and processing of fruits, vegetables, food crops such as maize, sweet potatoes, peanuts and soybeans, spices like cloves, pepper, cinnamon, and dairy cattle.
The Investment Coordinating Board put Malaysia as the 11th biggest foreign investor in Indonesia with a total of 160 projects worth US$4.2 billion since 1967.
The bulk of Malaysian investment is planned in oil palm plantations. About 80 percent, or 1.6 million hectares, of the total area of oil palm plantations being managed or to be developed by foreign investors is owned by joint ventures involving Malaysian investors.
Malaysia is the world's largest palm oil producer with an annual output of more than 7 million tons, followed by Indonesia in second place with about 4.7 million tons.
However, the Indonesian government decided earlier this month to impose a temporary freeze on new foreign investments in oil palm plantations to prevent the industry from being dominated by foreign companies.
Call
Sulong called on Malaysian labor intensive industrial companies, especially electronics firms, to consider expanding or relocating their plants in Indonesia.
Malaysia's Minister of Education Sri Mohd Najib Tun Razak said Indonesian and Malaysian businesses had the advantage of becoming good partners due to their proximity and similar culture.
Also, Razak said, there were many areas where both countries could complement each other.
For example, he said, Indonesia had made progress in aviation technology, whereas Malaysia just started in aviation. Malaysia had made significant progress in the automotive industry, in which Indonesia just started.
Razak said both countries also had opportunity to cooperate in information technology and human resources development.
President of Malaysia's Asian Strategy and Leadership Institute, Mirzan Mahathir, the son of Malaysia's prime minister, said the main obstacle in investing in Indonesia for Malaysian businesspeople was the difficulty in finding the right partners.
The meeting, which was organized the by Asian Strategy and Leadership Institute, Malaysian Strategic Research Center and the Indonesia Forum, drew more than 100 noted Malaysian and Indonesian businesspeople. (jsk)