The Indonesian Government, under President Joko Widodo, was very serious about improving its attractiveness for collaborative foreign investment in downstream processing facilities, according to the Minister of Investment’s Advisor Robert Marbun.
Mr Marbun said that following the G20 Summit, held in Bali in November 2022, many countries now recognised the opportunity that his country presented.
“This moment, we want to inform you to please look at the opportunity and the Minister of Investment is ready to facilitate you, step by step, to make your business growing and profitable,” Mr Marbun said.
Mr Robert Marbun, Advisor for the Minister of Investment, Indonesian Government speaking at day one of Paydirt’s Battery Minerals Conference in Perth.
In terms of current data for inbound foreign investment into Indonesia, Singapore currently leads the table, and has since 2019.
Australia is currently ranked tenth in terms of the value of investment into Indonesia.
When it came to foreign direct investment, in downstream processing facilities in particular, Mr Marbun said it must be in the form of collaboration with local industries to help upskill people and protect business.
He said the Indonesian Government understood investors needed certainty, and one key strategy to deliver this was to streamline government administration — including online applications and central processing within the Ministry of Investment.
“Let me tell you about the Batam Industrial Park in Central Java. If you invest in Batam, we guarantee the land will be clear and clean, and the basic infrastructure will be given by government, including electricity, water supply and gas,” Mr Marbun said.
“We are making it very easy to invest in Indonesia. We wish Australian companies take the opportunity and do their business in Indonesia.
“We are well aware that as an investor, people deciding the project need to calculate the cost and benefit. I just want to convince you to trust Indonesia, we are a stable democracy.
“More than 40 per cent of the Asian population are in Indonesia. We have our middle-income group growing and government is spending on infrastructure. We are combatting corruption and [promoting] social-religious harmony.”
