Posted on 17 Mar 2015
Vice President Jusuf Kalla,
currently on a five-day visit to Japan, has encouraged Japanese companies to
step up investment in Indonesia.
“We discussed, among other things, opportunities to increase Japanese
investment in Indonesia,” he told journalists after his meeting with
representatives of Japanese companies in Tokyo on Monday.
Kalla met with representatives of Itochu, Marubeni, Mitsubishi, Nomura and
Sumitomo. Keidanren (Japan Business Federation) representatives were also
present at the meeting. In 2014, a number of global media companies reported
that Itochu had partnered with a Thai company, Charoen Pokphand, to invest more
than US$8 billion in a Chinese state-owned company, CITIC Group, the biggest
investment a Japanese trading company has ever made.
Indonesian Ambassador to Japan Yusron Ihza Mahendra said during the meeting
Japanese companies had expressed concern about a number of issues, including
land acquisition and work permits, that they deemed potentially detrimental to
their business efforts.
Earlier, Kalla reported a high level of interest among large Japanese companies
to invest in Indonesia following the rupiah’s continued depreciation.
“[Japanese companies] are interested in expanding their business in the region
and they want a smooth bureaucratic process,” said Kalla, adding that company
representatives had also expressed worries related to the supply of gas and
electricity, as well as port infrastructure.
