President encourages Arabs to invest here

President encourages Arabs to invest here

JAKARTA (JP): President Abdurrahman Wahid courted Arab
investors on Thursday, assuring them his administration would
establish a conducive environment for their operations.

Speaking at a meeting with visiting ministers from eight Arab
countries and three Asian countries at the state palace, Wahid
said his government had been working hard to establish security
and stability as they were a prerequisite for the smooth flow of
foreign investment.

"Investment will only arrive if stability prevails in the
area. Of course now we have problems of stability in several
areas like Aceh, Irian Jaya and Maluku. But I think we will be
able to take care of them in a short time," he said.

He said small-scale investments were no less important than
large-scale ones.

"I am not thinking about massive investment here ... It is not
necessary to make a huge investment, something around half a
million dollars is okay as long as there is investment coming to
Indonesia," he said.

Finance and economic ministers, fund managers and executives
from eight Arab countries -- Oman, Qatar, Yemen, Iran, Saudi
Arabia, Kuwait -- as well as the Asian countries of Singapore,
Brunei Darussalam and Malaysia were in Jakarta for a three-day
meeting on investment opportunities in Indonesia, which ended on
Thursday.

Indonesian Minister of Foreign Affairs Alwi Shihab said at the
media conference following the meeting the ministers from the
eleven countries had confirmed their support for the efforts of
the Indonesian government to encourage direct foreign investment.

He acknowledged the delegations had not made any commitments
to any of the investment projects in various sectors offered
during the meeting.

"However, a private fund agency from Saudi Arabia has sought
an opportunity to buy some shares in Bank Central Asia (BCA),
while a Malaysian company is ready to strike a deal on a sand
import project in Riau," he said.

He added the family of a Qatar minister had made a deal worth
$2 million for furniture investment.

Investment in Indonesia from Middle Eastern countries is still
low compared with other parts of the world, according to the
newly appointed State Minister for Investment and State
Enterprises Development, Rozy Munir.

Foreign direct investment from the Middle East amounted to
US$4.7 billion as of the end of March this year, reflecting only
2.1 percent of the total foreign direct investment approved in
the period, he said.

Rozy said Indonesia had seen a continuous decline in the value
of foreign investment amid the prolonged economic crisis.

Approved investment figures plunged to $10.6 billion last
year, from $33.8 billion in 1997 and $13.6 billion in 1998, he
said.(prb/cst)