Indonesian President Joko Widodo pledged to create room for Japanese investors to conduct business in Indonesia at a business forum held on March 24 in Japan, during his first visit to Japan since taking office in October.

Event participants included over 1,000 Japanese enterprises and officials.

During the event, the president fielded queries from Japanese enterprises on current issues including infrastructure, licensing, financial policies, and fuel subsidy policies while asserting improvements in a number of fields.

The president said fuel subsidy policies were removed last year and committed to intensify Indonesia’s infrastructure and investment climate and issue permanent residence permits for Japanese experts with bachelor’s degrees.

On the occasion, a memorandum of understanding (MoU) on enhancing investment cooperation between the two countries was signed by Indonesia’s Investment Coordinating Board (BKPM) and Japan’s External Trade Organization (JETRO).

The MoU is hoped to increase the total Japanese investment in Indonesia this year to 5.4 billion USD.

In the ASEAN region, Indonesia is ranked third after Singapore and Thailand as top destinations for Japanese investment.-VNA