Data from the Investment Coordinating Board (BKPM) show that Singapore remains Indonesia’s largest foreign investor with US$6.7 billion in investment realization from January to September this year. The amount represents 30.6 percent of total foreign direct investment (FDI) in Indonesia.

The nine-month realization showed that Singapore’s investment in Indonesia had grown 10 percent compared to the same period of 2017, said Indonesian Ambassador to Singapore Ngurah Swajaya.

With the increasing trend, Ngurah said Indonesia was optimistic that direct investment from Singapore would grow 15 percent by the end of this year.

“Our hope is that investment [from Singapore] will even reach $10 billion this year,” he said at a press gathering on the sidelines of the 33rd ASEAN Summit and Related Summits on Sunday in Singapore, adding that the investment was mostly in the infrastructure, property and agriculture sectors.

Ngurah acknowledged that businesspeople tended to “wait and see” during a political year and held back their investment in a country. However, Singaporean investors seemed unfazed with the upcoming presidential election in Indonesia as seen from the increasing FDI trend this year, he said.

“To us, they [Singaporean investors] are not waiting and seeing. There are perhaps one or two investors doing so, but most of them appear not to be,” he said.

The economic, banking and industry research team of Bank Central Asia (BCA) Group wrote in its research note recently that the upcoming 2019 elections might cause some uncertainty as the government might pivot temporarily toward populist policies, such as maintaining low fuel prices. Such a situation would affect investor perceptions, the team wrote.

Singapore and Indonesia agreed to renew their cooperation on the sidelines of an annual leader’s retreat meeting between President Joko “Jokowi” Widodo and Singaporean Prime Minister Lee Hsien Loong in Bali in October.

Apart from discussing ways to push digital economy cooperation, the leaders also highlighted an investment guarantee agreement, Ngurah said.

He explained that Singaporean investors and their Indonesian partners had often faced hurdles in settling their legal disputes as a result of a lack of a proper settlement mechanism. Therefore, both governments, through Jokowi and Lee, agreed to improve the legal framework for such cases, he said.

“Indonesia and Singapore already have a similar agreement in the form of an ASEAN agreement, but this cooperation renewal certainly boosts the confidence of both countries even more,” Ngurah added.

On the same occasion, Ngurah said the government was also attempting to boost visits of Singaporeans to Indonesia, and wooing Chinese tourists in Singapore to visit the country.

Last month, for instance, flag carrier Garuda Indonesia launched its inaugural direct flight connecting Singapore and Belitung, an island on the east coast of Sumatra.

The flight, which now operates four times a week, had opened connectivity and other business opportunities, including the development of cruise tourism, and had increased exports of Belitung fishery products, Ngurah added.

“As one of 10 new tourist spots the government has dubbed the “10 New Balis”, Belitung has great potential as a tourist destination for Singaporeans because they tend to look for beaches and beautiful underwater scenes,” Ngurah said.

Embassy data show that the number of Singaporean tourists to Indonesia from January to July this year reached 929,106, an increase of 9.6 percent from the same period in 2017.

Apart from that, the embassy also worked with Singaporean travel agents to attract Chinese tourists to continue their trip to Indonesia after visiting Singapore, with only a small additional cost. Ngurah said Chinese tourists were Singapore’s biggest foreign visitors, followed by Indonesians.

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