Investment Minister/Head of the Investment Coordinating Board (BKPM) Bahlil Lahadalia announced that investment realization from January to September 2022 has reached IDR 892.4 trillion – or 74.4% of the target – both foreign and direct investments. He was upbeat that his ministry could reach a targeted investment of IDR 1,200 trillion for the year 2022.
“Insya Allah [God willing], we will be able to achieve our target of IDR 1,200 trillion,” he told a press conference on the Q3 Investment Realization at his office on October 24, 2022.
Political stability and positive prospect
Lahadalia said all business actors needed to build a synergy to push investments as well as increase investors’ trust to put their money in the country.
The investment realization for the 2022’s third quarter reached IDR 473.9 trillion or 53.7% for foreign direct investment (FDI) and IDR 413.1 trillion or 46.3% for domestic direct investment (DDI). The figures were higher than in 2021, which were 44.5% for FDI and 26.1% for DDI.
The minister said that the figures were affected by the country’s political stability and positive prospect of investors.
The investment realization consisted of: steel industry at IDR 131.8 trillion or 14.8%; transportation at IDR 97.6 trillion or 10.9%; mining at IDR 96.5 trillion or 10.8%; property and offices at IDR 80.5 trillion or 9%; and electricity, gas and water at IDR 68.6 trillion or 7.7%.
Lahadalia explained the recent increase of FDI and DDI in the five sectors was due to the government’s policy in the downstream industry, especially in the mining and natural resources sectors.
Provinces with the most investment realization, both FDI and DDI, comprised of: West Java with IDR 128.4 trillion or 4.4%; Jakarta with IDR 108.9 trillion or 12.2%; East Java with IDR 79.5 trillion or 8.9%; Central Sulawesi IDR 76.4 trillion or 8.6%; and Riau with IDR 71.9 trillion or 8.1%.
Meanwhile, foreign investments were still dominated by Singapore with US$ 10.5 billion or 31.6%; China with US$ 5.2 billion or 15.5%; Hong Kong with US$ 3.9 billion or 11.7%; Japan with US$ 2.8 billion or 8.3%; and Malaysia with US$ 2.2 billion or 6.6%.
Investment risk in Indonesia
Despite Lahadalia’s positive remark on Indonesia’s political stability, the year 2023 will be very much influenced by political campaigns for the 2024 general elections. This might cause a rift in political stability prior, during and post election days.
The threat of identity politics and polarization – as what had happened during the 2017 Jakarta gubernatorial election and the 2019 elections – should not be viewed as an imminent feature of Indonesian people. The threat lies in how far political elites use Indonesian society’s sociological elements to mobilize voters, according to experts.
Political observers have tossed three prominent presidential candidates: Central Java Governor Ganjar Pranowo, Defense Minister Prabowo Subianto and former Jakarta Governor Anies Baswedan.
