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fter meeting with US business leaders in New York last week, Vice President Boediono said he was pleasantly surprised to learn that investor interest was even stronger than when he visited the country six months ago, adding that the positive investor interest needed to be tapped and converted into real investment.

Boediono discussed President Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono’s efforts to improve the Indonesian economy and investment climate at a lunch with more than 70 business leaders at the InterContinental New York Barclay hotel.

“They were very enthusiastic,” he told journalists traveling with him for Friday’s meeting between US President Barack Obama and the leaders of ASEAN. Boediono is representing Yudhoyono, who said he was unable to attend due to pressing domestic issues.

Indonesia has been spared from most of the fallout from the global economic recession. The economy grew 4.5 percent in 2009 and is expected to grow by six percent this year. The government is targeting 7-8 percent growth by 2014.

Boediono had one-on-one discussions with the CEOs of Freeport McMoran, GE Infrastructure and Procter and Gamble, but declined to elaborate on the details.

Boediono also listened to investor opinions on some of the obstacles and challenges that the government needed to overcome.

“We are revising the law on land procurement, which has been a problem. We are also reviewing the regulatory framework regarding public-private partnership [PPP] projects,” he said.

Boediono also visited the Clinton Global Initiative offices, where he was accompanied by former US
president Bill Clinton during a roundtable discussion with executives from more than 60 leading
US companies.

Caterpillar Asia president director Kevin Thieneman, who represents the US-Asia Business Council in Jakarta, said there were 12 US companies ready to sign memorandums of understanding (MoUs) with the government for infrastructure development projects in energy, roads, highways and broadband telecommunications, Thieneman said without disclosing company names or projected investment values.

The US is Indonesia’s third largest foreign investor this year, the Investment Coordinating Board (BKPM) said, adding that US investment in 33 projects reached US$330 million in the second quarter.

BKPM estimates the government will need up to Rp 1,500 trillion ($173 billion) for infrastructure development between 2010 and 2014. The government will allocate Rp 500 trillion to Rp 600 trillion from its state budget during the period, while the remainder is expected to come from PPP programs. (emb)