T

he Indonesian Chamber of Commerce and Industry (Kadin) has promised to help promote business opportunities in east Indonesia to investors during a trade and investment forum that will be held at the end of May and officially opened by President Joko '€œJokowi'€ Widodo.

According to head of investment, banking, finance and business development in eastern Indonesia Reza V. Maspaitella, Kadin plans to offer three areas as special integrated business zones: Maluku, which will focus on fisheries, South Sulawesi, focusing on agriculture and West Nusa Tenggara for animal breeding.

In the fishery sector, investors are expected to build electronic fish auctions, facilities to process fisheries products and supporting infrastructure, such as cold storage, Reza said. Waste from the processing will be turned into energy, he added.

'€œWe want to maximize opportunities in the fishery business by making transactions more transparent through electronic auctioning, through which the world will recognize Indonesia as the world'€™s fish storehouse,'€ he said in a press briefing on Wednesday.

Similarly, South Sulawesi will host a series of activities related to its key commodities, including cocoa and soybean, while West Nusa Tenggara may attract firms that are interested in the integrated cattle business, from insemination to the distribution of ready-to-sell meat.

A number of foreign investors, including those from the Netherlands and Portugal, have expressed interest in pouring their cash into projects planned to be run jointly with regional state-owned enterprises or domestic private firms, with some deals being expected to conclude during the forum slated for May 25 in Jakarta, Reza said.

At present, investment interests have amounted to around US$50 million, of which up to $5 million will be spent on the fishery processing sector, Kadin data show.

Economists have said the distribution of economic activities in the eastern part of the sprawling archipelago is a must in a bid to have more equal growth; presently, growth is centered in the western part of the country, particularly Java.

Approximately 56.9 percent of the total realized direct investment of Rp 463.1 trillion ($35.32 billion) last year went to Java.

Areas outside Java, notably in east Indonesia, are considered less attractive for investment due to inadequate infrastructure, including roads, ports and energy supply, and a shortage of skilled workers.

Realizing this situation, the government has planned massive projects to accelerate economic expansion in the region, including a number of industrial centers and special economic zones.

Reza further said that the establishment of the East Indonesia Development Fund would also be proposed at the forum; the fund would finance economic development in the eastern part of the country.

'€œWe cannot depend on state budgets or local budgets to support these programs. So the funds may serve as a solution to that,'€ he said.