JAKARTA: A number of Italian companies have expressed their interest in pouring investment worth almost US$790 million into Indonesia, highlighting a favorable investment climate in Southeast Asia’s largest economy.
Investment Coordinating Board (BKPM) head Franky Sibarani said in a statement on Tuesday that 11 Italian companies had expressed their interest in investing a total of $789.5 million in Indonesia.
The planned investments, according to Franky, consisted of $4.5 million in telecommunications, $380 million in electricity, $25 million in the turbine and power plant industry, $90 million in buses, $10 million in shipbuilding and $280 million in construction.
“The investment interest can be categorized as serious and to be immediately followed up by requesting principal permits from the BKPM,” he said, adding that most of the Italian companies had held talks with potential local partners.
A principal permit is a document issued by the BKPM to provide legal certainty for investors to start projects in Indonesia.
The 11 Italian companies expressed their interest on Monday at the “Indonesia Investment Day” forum held on the sidelines of the Expo Milano 2015 in Milan, Italy.
Total foreign direct investment (FDI) from Italy stood at $6.1 million in the first six months of this year with a total of 41 projects, making it the 29th biggest foreign investor for Indonesia.
According to Franky, the new investments from Italy were of great importance because most of the companies planned to make Indonesia their production base, helping the government reduce imports.
Among potential investments from Italy are a $10 million project to manufacture a total of 1,000 ships and the establishment of an integrated fishing industry area in South Sulawesi.
The BKPM’s deputy director for investment monitoring and implementation, Azhar Lubis, said that the government would fully utilize its foreign representative based in London, the UK, to net as much investment as possible from European countries, including Italy.
The Finance Ministry previously issued a new policy that enables foreign investors to enjoy a tax holiday period of up to 20 years, increased from 10 years under the previous ruling.
