Indonesia lowers investment attraction target

Jakarta (VNA) – Indonesia has revised this year’s investment attraction target down to 817 trillion Rp (57.5 billion USD) from 886 trillion Rp due to COVID-19 impacts.

At a recent press briefing, head of the country’s Investment Coordinating Board Bahlil Lahadalia noted foreign direct investment (FDI), which accounts for less than half of total investment, fell by 9.2 percent to 98 trillion Rp in the first three months from the same period last year.

With many countries introducing lockdown measures to contain the spread of the COVID-19 outbreak, economic activities such as trade and investment are slowing down, he said, adding that it is a little bit difficult to expect new investment to flow amidst the pandemic.

As a result, the share of investment in economic growth rose only 1.7 percent in Q1 from a year earlier. Meanwhile, it grew by more than 4 percent year on year in Q4 last year.

However, Indonesia’s total investment figure grew 8 percent year on year to 210.7 trillion Rp in Q1, bolstered by the domestic investment of 112.7 trillion Rp, according to Statistics Indonesia.

Lahadalia said the COVID-19-induced economic downturn started to impact investment in the country in mid-March, resulting in a decline in FDI. 

The Investment Coordinating Board is trying to accelerate the investment realisation in many ways, including digitalising various administrative processes to attract more investors./.