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Natuna incident does not affect Chinese investment in Indonesia: BKPM
In the January-September period last year, the realization of Chinese investments in the country reached Rp 46.3 trillion (US$3.3 billion) with 1,619 projects.
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Coordinating Investment Board (BKPM) head Bahlil Lahadalia (center) speaks to reporters in this undated photo. (JP/Riza Roidila Mufti)
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recent maritime spat between Indonesia and China over the Natuna island chain in Riau Islands province has not affected investments between the two countries, according to a high-ranking official.
"The Natuna incident and investment are two different things," Investment Coordinating Board (BKPM) head Bahlil Lahadalia said as quoted by Antara news agency on Tuesday. "Investment is a matter of business relations between the two countries and the Natuna issue is a matter of sovereignty."
Diplomatic tension has heightened between Indonesia and China over the past week after the latter's fishing and coast guard vessels entered the North Natuna Sea, the southernmost part of the troubled South China Sea waters.
China has a so-called Nine-Dash Line claim over the waters, which was ruled to be incompatible with the United Nations Convention on the Law of the Sea (UNCLOS) by an international tribunal in 2016.
Indonesia has persistently objected to Chinas's claim and despite being a non-claimant country, it has been involved in brokering diplomacy between the claimants, namely Brunei Darussalam, Malaysia, Vietnam, the Philippines and China.
The government has summoned the Chinese ambassador in Jakarta and lodged a diplomatic protest with Beijing.
Bahlil said the Natuna issue would be solved through diplomacy and that a peaceful settlement would support a good investment climate.
"My duty is to convince [Chinese investors] that Indonesia is a good place to invest," he said.
In the January-September period last year, the realization of Chinese investments in the country reached Rp 46.3 trillion (US$3.3 billion) with 1,619 projects, lagging only behind Singapore.
President Joko "Jokowi" Widodo said after a Cabinet meeting on Monday that there was no bargaining when it came to Indonesia's sovereign rights on its exclusive economic zone (EEZ) in the North Natuna Sea.
“I think all the statements have made it very clear that there will be no bargaining on our country’s sovereignty, that our territory is nonnegotiable,” he said. (dfr)
