TEMPO.CO, Jakarta - Singapore was the largest investor in Indonesia in the first half of this year, the Investment Coordinating Board (BKPM) official Azhar Lubis said today.

“The top five foreign investors in the second quarter of 2017 are Singapore [worth 1.6 billion US dollars], Japan [1.4 billion US dollars], China [1.3 billion US dollars], Hong Kong [0.6 billion US dollars] and South Korea [0.5 billion US dollars],” he said.

Meanwhile, the second quarter of this year saw foreign direct investment from Singapore (3.7 billion US dollars), Japan (2.8 billion US dollars), China (2 billion US dollars) Hong Kong (1 billion US dollars) and the United States (1 billion US dollars).

BKPM chairman Thomas Lembong said that growing negative sentiments against China did not significantly impact the country’s investment in Indonesia.

Read: Fitch Ratings Affirms Indonesia Investment Grade

“Chinese investment continues to increase and the quality is also improving, from predominantly capital intensive sectors, such as smelters and infrastructure, it has now entered labor intensive sectors, such as tourism. It’s very strategic for us,” he said.

Thomas said that Indonesia’s participation in Belt and Road summit in Beijing in May has helped boost Chinese investment in both quantity and quality.

The BKPM reports that Indonesia saw Rp336.7 trillion investments in the first half of this year or a 12.9 percent year-on-year increase.

The figure comprises of Rp206.9 trillion foreign direct investment and Rp129.8 trillion local investment, creating 345,323 jobs in the process.

The achievement was 49.6 percent of investment target for 2017 of Rp678.8 trillion.

ANTARA