Chinese Companies to Invest at Least $6 Billion in Indonesia: Minister By ID/Damiana Simanjuntak on 12:19 pm September 10, 2013. Category Business, Economy Tags: China-Indonesia, Indonesia manufacturing, Trade,Minerals and Energy A number of companies from China have aired interest in investing at least $6 billion in Indonesia to build industrial estates, Industry Minister MS Hidayat said on Monday.
“The industrial estates will be integrated with mineral smelters owned by the Chinese investors,” Hidayat said on the sidelines of a hearing with House of Representatives Commission VI, which oversees industry, trade, state-owned enterprises and investment.
“They will build [them] to process bauxite and nickel,” he added.
The minister said the Chinese investors were eyeing two regions in Kalimantan and Sulawesi as possible locations for the estates.
Hidayat said Indonesia will require the investors to cooperate with local partners who have secured mining licenses.
“I want the local companies to supply the raw materials for the plants within the industrial estate,” he said.
Hidayat did not provide the names of the Chinese investors or their potential local partners.
Chinese President Xi Jinping is scheduled to visit Indonesia on Oct. 2 to boost government-to-government economic cooperation between the two countries.
President Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono and Xi met previously at the World leaders forum at the G-20 summit last week, and both agreed to improve economic ties between China and Indonesia.
Hidayat said that following last week’s meeting, roughly 500 private sector leaders from Indonesia and 300 Chinese entrepreneurs — as well as top executives from Chinese state companies — agreed to meet on Oct. 3. The conference is expected to yield a number of business-to-business deals.
“This will mark a new era of investment for both countries. All this time, Chinese investors tended to invest only in commerce and the oil and gas sector. Now, they have begun to invest in manufacturing here,” Hidayat said.
The minister added that he received an update from Taiwanese technology giant Foxconn regarding their intention to invest in a manufacturing plant in Indonesia.
“The process was halted for three months due to an internal problem on their end … but they examined the draft proposal to enter a cooperation with the local partner,” Hidayat said.
The minister said that he hoped Foxconn and Erajaya Group, a local mobile phone distributor and retailer, would sign the joint venture agreement before year’s end.
Foxconn is a major manufacturer of Apple gadgets and previously announced plans to invest up to $10 billion in Indonesia over the next five years.
China is now looking to alternative markets for supply markets for their Energy supply due to their vast on going demand
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