RI, JAPAN CONCRETIZE PROJECTS AHEAD OF TIES ANNIVERSARY

By Andi Abdussalam

Jakarta, Nov 13 (Antara) - Indonesia and Japan are concretizing cooperation on several strategic infrastructure project such as seaport, mass rapid transit (MRT) and railways in the runup to celebrating the 60th anniversary of their relations next year.           The cooperation was among others reinforced during a bilateral meeting between President Joko Widodo and Japanese Prime Minister Shinzo Abe at the ASEAN Summit in Manila, Philippines, on Sunday.          On the occasion President Jokowi expressed wish for significant progress in the infrastructure cooperation ahead of the anniversary.  "This will be a monumental gift for the 60th anniversary of diplomatic relations between the two countries," he said.          On investment cooperation President Jokowi expressed appreciation to increased Japanese investment in the country, adding that "it almost reached 90 percent in 2016."      Foreign Minister Retno said that the bilateral meeting between the President and the Prime Minister of Japan is an important meeting because they discussed the plan to commemorate 60 years of diplomatic relations between Indonesia and Japan in 2018.

INDONESIA'S INDUSTRIAL ZONES AWAIT JAPANESE INVESTMENT

By Andi Abdussalam

Jakarta, July 10 (Antara) - Indonesia has continued to develop special industrial zones (KEKs) where it provides investment facilities to investors, including those coming from overseas.          Several regions in the country have proposed to the government to open KEKs to accelerate their economic development. Currently, the government has approved at least 11 KEKs, with a total investment of Rp221 trillion.          In order to further boost investment in the country's KEKs, Indonesia is promoting the potential of its economic zones abroad to attract foreign investment.      After his trip to South Korea, Minister of Industry Airlangga Hartarto visited Japan to seek additional investment for the industrial sector in Indonesia.          "Yesterday, we met Jetro (Japan External Trade Organization) President as well as the board of directors of Sojitz Corporation. We invite them to continue to increase their investment in Indonesia," Hartarto said a written statement in Jakarta on Saturday (July 8).          Several industrial areas in Indonesia are open to receiving foreign investment, including from Japan.          Indonesia expects industries from Japan, such as those engaged in metal mineral processing, power generation, coal gasification, petrochemicals, and glass, to invest in the country's industrial sites that have been readied.

JAPAN IS POTENTIAL INVESTOR FOR INDONESIA IN 2016

By Andi Abdussalam

Jakarta, Dec 20 (Antara) - Indonesia which is intensively carrying out development to  advance its economy needs a lot of funds to develop its infrastructures that are required to facilitate  development in various economic sectors across the country.         In developing its entire planned infrastructure, Indonesia requires a total financing of around Rp5,000 trillion rupiah (about US$360.5 billion).          The government however has no enough funds to finance its projects. It needs to cooperate with the private sector and invite foreign investors.          "It is impossible to source funding of such magnitude from within the country. It means that we need to attract foreign investors," Minister of State-Owned Enterprises Rini Soemarno emphasized, after attending an energy forum last month.          Therefore, Indonesia is now actively seeking investors from overseas. One of the foreign countries considered to be potential for investing in Indonesia is Japan.          In 2016 for example, Japan is considered to be a potential source of foreign direct investment.