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Jokowi returns from China with billions in investment pledges
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President Joko “Jokowi“ Widodo (right) shakes hands with Chinese President Xi Jinping during their bilateral meeting on the sidelines of the Group of 20 Summit in Nusa Dua, Bali, on Nov. 16, 2022. (AFP/Achmad Ibrahim)
P
resident Joko “Jokowi” Widodo’s two-day visit to China has resulted in billions of dollars in investment pledges, the government has said, with the single biggest commitment a US$11.5 billion project to develop the domestic glass industry.
Investment Minister Bahlil Lahadalia told The Jakarta Post on Friday, the day the President returned, that Xinyi Group, a Chinese glass producer, had committed the funds to develop a downstream industry for quartz sand, which Indonesia has in abundance.
He said separately in an online press briefing that Xinyi would build a glass and solar panel manufacturing facility in Rempang Island, Batam, and that 95 percent of the facility’s output would be for export.
“The best thing since sliced bread is that today Bapak President witnessed the signing of a memorandum of understanding between the Indonesian government and a company called Xinyi,” Bahlil said on Friday.
Read also: Jokowi jets off to China once more
Xinyi holds 26 percent of the global glass market, Bahlil said, adding that Indonesia’s major quartz and silica reserves could offer huge potential for the company.
He estimated that the deal would create some 35,000 jobs in Indonesia.
