RI must stay calm to help investment

RI must stay calm to help investment

KUALA LUMPUR (Reuters): Malaysia will continue to invest in Indonesia but wants to see political stability and a better climate for business there, Foreign Minister Syed Hamid Albar said on Monday.

"Indonesia must be able to project a situation that would create confidence and create an environment that people can do business," the Malaysian minister was quoted as saying by the official Bernama news agency.

His remarks to reporters followed hour-long talks between visiting Indonesian Vice-President Megawati Soekarnoputri and Malaysian Deputy Prime Minister Abdullah Badawi.

Megawati, who arrived on Sunday on a tour which includes Switzerland, Bangladesh and Singapore, did not speak to reporters after the talks, which touched on Malaysian investor concerns.

Asked how much confidence Malaysia had in Indonesia, Syed Hamid said bilateral trade exceeded 12 billion ringgit (US$3.16 billion) for the first 10 months of last year and was in Jakarta's favor.

"Our level of confidence is in the level of contact that we keep on with Indonesia...the number of investments we had with Indonesia even during the difficult period," he said.

Indonesian political turmoil, ethnic violence and Jakarta's stuttering reforms in recent years have dealt heavy blows to investor sentiment.

Nevertheless, Malaysian plantation giant Kumpulan Guthrie Bhd recently bought 25 plantations in Indonesia for a total of about $383 million.

Syed Hamid said Megawati had asked Malaysia to consider hiring more Indonesian workers and also give her people the opportunity to study technology at Malaysian universities.

Indonesians make up the bulk of Malaysia's foreign workers, numbering about two million, but officials say about half of them are in Malaysia illegally.