JAKARTA. Public of Indonesia will welcome the King of Saudi Arabia Salman bin Abdul Aziz Al Saud and the companions with a great fanfare.
Information are circulating that aside of bringing along a great number of companions, the King of Saudi Arabia would offer investments worth US$ 25 billion or about Rp 333 trillion in oil refinery, natural gas, tourism, and others.
Hopefully, the investment commitments would be realized. Understandably, Saudis investors have almost never recorded a significant number of investments in Indonesia.
In 2015, the Saudis invested as much as US$ 30.4 million in Indonesia in basic chemical industry, pharmacy, hotel, restaurant, and trade sectors. “The realization of (the Saudis’ investments in Indonesia) amounted to US$ 34.6 million during the period of 2012-2016,” said Deputy of Investment Planning Affairs of th Investment Coordinating Board (BKPM) Tamba Hutapea, Monday (27/2).
The data of BKPM show that the realization of the Saudis’ investments in Indonesia in 2016 just amounted to US$ 900,000 or Rp 11.7 billion. As comparison, a local hospitality entrepreneur invests minimum Rp 50 billion to establish a budget-class hotel
Last year, Saudi Arabia ranked 57th in terms of investment in Indonesia. The amount of investment of Saudi Arabia was even lower than Mali’s. During the period, Mali invested as much as US$ 1.1 million in Indonesia. As of 2016, Indonesia still relied on Singaporean, Japanese, and Chinese investors, which had invested as much as US$ 9.1 billion, US$ 5.4 billion, and US$ 2.66 billion, respectively.
Indonesia also recorded trade deficit with Arab Saudi. To date, Indonesia relies on the imports of oil from Saudi Arabia.
Vice Chairman of Indonesian Chamber of Commerce and Industry (Kadin) Carmelia Hartoto has yet to predict the investment potentials of Saudi Arabia. To date, the Saudis investors have yet to offer any cooperation. “Government that knows the agenda,” Carmelia said.
(Muhammad Farid/Translator)
