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Keep calm and invest in RI, Jokowi tells UK

President Joko “Jokowi” Widodo wrapped up a two-day visit to the UK on Wednesday by sealing investment deals worth a total of US$19

Haeril Halim (The Jakarta Post)
London
Thu, April 21, 2016

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Keep calm and invest in RI, Jokowi tells UK

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resident Joko “Jokowi” Widodo wrapped up a two-day visit to the UK on Wednesday by sealing investment deals worth a total of US$19.02 billion with a number of British business giants.

The firms are eyeing intensifying their presence in the financial, renewable energy, manufacturing and aviation sectors in Indonesia.

Speaking at a UK-Indonesia business forum in London, which marked the signing of the investment commitments, Jokowi said Indonesia had reached economic stability and issued business-friendly regulations to attract foreign investors to Southeast Asia’s biggest economy.

“Keep calm and invest in Indonesia,” Jokowi said in his closing remarks, which received applause from the audience.

British oil and gas giant BP accounted for most of the deals, with a total of $8 billion in investment commitments to expand its operation at the Tangguh gas block in Papua.

The second-biggest investment commitment, meanwhile, was made by the Jardine Matheson Group, which plans to spend $7.5 billion to expand its business in automotive, infrastructure and properties.

Another major investment deal was made by London-based lender HSBC, which agreed to invest $1.2 billion to support its upcoming merger with Bank Ekonomi and expand its business in Indonesia.

Investment Coordinating Board (BKPM) chairman Franky Sibarani said his office had assisted new and existing foreign investors from the planning to realization phases, with the help of special marketing offices that the BKPM established in numerous countries including the UK, US, Japan, South Korea and China.

Franky said Wednesday’s deals not only saw incoming cash from the UK, as flag carrier Garuda Indonesia would also spend $1.2 billion to procure several new aircraft engines from UK’s Rolls Royce, with the training of Indonesian engineers also part of the deal.

“The $1.2-billion deal includes the procurement of new engines as well as the establishment of a Garuda maintenance facility called Aero Asia. The facility can later be expanded to serve not only Indonesia but the ASEAN region,” Franky said.

Before attending the business forum, President Jokowi met with CEOs from 20 British companies, who he briefed about the investment climate in Indonesia.

Among the CEOs were Sir Henry Keswick of Jardine Matheson, Bob Dudley of BP, Stuart Gulliver of HSBC, Gregory Hodkinson of Arup, Sir John Peace of Standard Chartered, Paul Kahn of Airbus, Colin Smith of Rolls Royce, Julian Adams of Prudential and Nikesh Sinha of NV VOGT Group.

Franky said pulp and paper company APRIL Group also announced during the forum its plan to export pulp and paper worth $12 million to its UK partner Roxcel Group.

“We have more incoming cash this time with a total $19 billion while exports only account for $12 million,” Franky said.

After attending Wednesday’s forum, Jokowi flew to Brussels, where he is to meet on Thursday with EU leaders to discuss the possibility of Indonesia joining the Comprehensive Economic Agreement Partnership (CEPA) with the EU.

The President will spend a day in Brussels before leaving for Amsterdam on Friday to finish up his five-day European trip, before he and his business entourage return to Jakarta on Saturday.

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