Top investor in Indonesia

Top investor in Indonesia

On Wednesday, Feb. 28, 1996, I watched a RCTI interview with the new American Ambassador, who had just presented his credentials to President Soeharto.

In the interview he said, among other things, that the United States is the biggest investor in Indonesia. This confuses me because according to an Investment Coordinating Board report, Japan is the biggest investor. The report lists the 10 biggest investors in Indonesia as follows (in millions):

Japan 27.1 million

United Kingdom 20.4 million

Hong Kong 18.4 million

Singapore 15.0 million

U.S. 11.5 million

According to this list the U.S. come fifth below Singapore and Hong Kong.

With the respect to our new friend and ambassador, I would like to know what is correct. Is the coordinating board wrong? Hard to believe.

Can The Jakarta Post enlighten me and give me the facts?

SOEGIH ARTO

Jakarta

Note: The Investment Coordinating Board lists the cumulative rankings since 1967. Japan has been, on average, the top investor in Indonesia over the past 32 years. The U.S. ranks fifth. The top investor varies from year to year. Britain was the top investor in 1995 with $6.3 million, and Hong Kong in 1994 with $6.0 million.

-- Editor