Indonesia now Japan`s eighth investment destination

Jan 5, 2008

Tokyo, Japan (ANTARA News) - The latest survey conducted by the Japan Bank for International Cooperation (JBIC) put Indonesia in the 8th position on the list of investment destinations of Japanese businesspeople, while it occupied the ninth position on the list in the previous year."The latest survey is like the best New Year`s present for Indonesia," Economic Affairs Coordinator at the Indonesian Embassy in Japan, M Abas Ridwan said on Friday.The subject was raised at a year-end meeting between the Indonesian Embassy`s economic team with JBIC executives."It is an interesting development because the Japanese investors normally adopted a "wait and see" attitude when it comes to investment in Indonesia," he added. He said it also indicated that Japan was confident in efforts at improving the investment climate in Indonesia, although he admitted that Japanese businesspeople also continued monitoring the investment climate in Indonesia.He said the positioning would be meaningful if the Japanese business people started investing in Indonesia. He also expressed hope 2008 is a new phase for the bilateral relations between the two countries especially that this year also marks the 50th anniversary of the diplomatic ties between the two nations established in January in 1958.JBIC Director of Aid Division for Indonesia, Satoshi Shigiya told ANTARA that the survey could be used for the Japanese businessmen`s guidance for overseas investment.The "Survey Report on Overseas Business Operations by Japanese Manufacturing Companies" covered 1,000 companies, 60 percent of whom had given a response.The Indonesian position on the list has been improving in the past ten years. Vietnam and Thailand were on top of the list of Japanese investment destinations.