Fri, 05 May 2000

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)