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Jokowi kicks off UAE visit with renewable energy deal as Indonesia seeks funding for energy ambitions
President Joko “Jokowi” Widodo has dedicated the first of a two-day official visit to the United Arab Emirates (UAE) to attracting more Middle Eastern investment.
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Abu Dhabi-based metal producer Emirates Global Aluminium (EGA) engages in talks with Jakarta-based state-owned mining holding company Indonesia Asahan Aluminium (Inalum) in Abu Dhabi, the United Arab Emirates, on Sunday, Jan. 12. The former company is slated to invest in upgrading an Inalum aluminium smelter. (BKPM/BKPM)
P
resident Joko “Jokowi” Widodo has dedicated the first of a two-day official visit to the United Arab Emirates (UAE) to attracting more Middle Eastern investment, starting with a multi-million dollar solar power plant project in West Java.
Jokowi met on Sunday with, among other luminaries, the directors of metal producer Emirates Global Aluminium (EGA), multinational retailer Lulu Group, financing firm BRS Ventures and renewable energy company Masdar.
Masdar is slated to finance the 145 megawatt (MW) Cirata solar power plant. The Rp 1.8 trillion (US$131.2 million) plant will become Indonesia’s largest solar plant, a title currently held by the 15MW Likupang plant in North Sulawesi.
“It’s not true that Indonesia only seeks investment from China and Singapore. We seek investment from every country,” said Coordinating Investment Board (BKPM) head Bahlil Lahadalia, who is one of high-ranking officials accompanying Jokowi, in a statement on Sunday.
Bahlil’s statement was directed toward Indonesian economists and businessmen who have raised concerns over the potential impacts of heavy inflows of Chinese money, including high indebtedness, inflows of foreign workers and Chinese companies' alleged lack of transparency.
Chinese investors realized Rp 46.3 trillion worth of investment in the country through 1,619 projects in the January-September period last year, lagging just behind Singapore, according to BKPM data.
The UAE, which was Indonesia’s largest Middle Eastern investor last year, is one of many countries Jokowi’s government is approaching to secure investments into $137 billion worth of infrastructure projects. Most of the projects are energy-related such as refineries, smelters and power plants.
