TEMPO.CO, Jakarta - The foreign investment in Indonesia during the first half of 2015 is the highest in ASEAN region, head of the Investment Coordinating Board Franky Sibarani said Monday.

Data obtained from the Financial Times showed that the flow of investment in Indonesia amounted to US$13.66 billion, or 31 percent of all investment in ASEAN.

"In the first semester of 2015 Indonesia absorbs 31 percent of foreign investment. This value is the highest among 10 ASEAN member countries," he said.

According to Sibarani, the figure is much higher than other ASEAN countries such as Vietnam which absorbs US$7.53 billion (17 percent) and Malaysia US$7.01 billion (16 percent).

"This data shows that amid of a slowing global economy, Indonesia is still potential as a major investment destination in ASEAN," he added.

Globally, the investment flow throughout the first half of 2015 reaches US$311 billion, down to 15.8 percent compared to that of the first half of 2014 amounting to US$369.5 billion.

Nevertheless, the flow of investment into the Asia Pacific region in the first half of 2015 rose 9.2 percent or US$137.3 billion, compared to that of the the first semester of 2014 which amounted to US$125.8 billion.

"Asia-Pacific is the only region which still records a positive growth of investment flows," he said.

The investment into ASEAN in the first half of 2015 originating from China (17 percent), Japan (15 percent), Thailand (12 percent), South Korea (12 percent), Singapore (10 percent), United States (9 percent), Malaysia (3 percent), Germany (3 percent), Taiwan (2 per cent) and Switzerland (2 percent).

The three ASEAN countries of the top 10 investment in Indonesia are Singapore, Malaysia and Thailand.

ANTARA