By : Agus *)
Business leaders from China and Japan separately has told President Joko “Jokowi” Widodo that they intended to their investments in Indonesia and would follow through on their investment plans.
President Jokowi held a courtesy call meeting with Chinese Vice Premier Liu Yandong at the Merdeka Palace, later on followed by a meeting with former Japanese prime minister Yasuo Fukuda, also president of the Japan Indonesia Association (Japinda).
The government has previously said it would push Chinese investors to follow through on their plans to invest in Indonesia, as the realization of Chinese-backed investments has been lacking at best. Although Jokowi underlined that his country was particularly concerned with infrastructure projects.
“The point is that the President asked [China] to speed up the implementation of the projects that are backed by China’s investments,” Pratikno said after the meeting. “And Chinese Vice Premier said they are used to working fast. So, they will carry out the program swiftly.”
Coordinating Economic Minister Sofyan Djalil said China “remains committed to helping Indonesia build its infrastructure”.
As for the Japanese delegation, Sofyan said the business leaders who came along with Japan’s former prime minister Yasuo Fukuda had also expressed similar commitments. “They expressed the commitment to continue investing in Indonesia,” he said.
The business leaders who met with Jokowi have represented a number of major Japanese companies including Sumitomo, Toshiba, Suzuki Motor, Mitsubishi, Panasonic, Daihatsu, Mizuho Bank and Chiyoda.
During the meeting, Sofyan said, Japanese delegations also conveyed problems they faced when investing in Indonesia, for example, those related to land acquisition.
Sofyan also said the Japanese delegation made an offer to Indonesia to adopt Japan’s Shinkansen high-speed rail technology.
The government remained undecided about a plan to construct a high-speed railway between Jakarta, Bandung and Surabaya, although it had given the go-ahead to China and Japan to conduct feasibility studies for the potential project.
*) The Author is Brunei Contributor