TEMPO.CO, Jakarta - Investment outside Java continues to increase in the first quarter of this year reaching Rp75.3 trillion and contributing 45.4 percent of the total investment. “The figure is higher compared to last year at only 44.9 percent,” the Investment Coordinating Board (BKPM) chairman Thomas Lembong said yesterday.

Meanwhile, Investment in Java stands at Rp90.5 trillion or 54.6 percent. BKPM also published a list of top five regions by investment realization comprising West Java (Rp29.3 trillion or 17.7 percent), Jakarta (Rp24.2 trillion or 14.6 percent), East Java (Rp.12.6 trillion or 7.6 percent), Banten (Rp12.4 trillion or 7.4 percent) and Central Java (Rp11.9 trillion or 7.2 percent).

By sector, the BKPM said that foreign direct investment and domestic investment flow into mining (Rp23.6 trillion or 14.2 percent), food and beverages industry (Rp18.5 trillion or 11.1 percent), transportation, warehousing and telecommunication (Rp18.4 trillion or 11.1 percent), electricity, gas and water (Rp16.7 trillion or 10.1 percent), and base metal, metal goods, machinery and electronics (Rp15.2 trillion or 9.2 percent).

BKPM reports an unchanged list of foreign investment by country. The big five comprise of Singapore (US$2.1 billion), Japan (US$1.4 billion), China (US$0.6 billion), the United States (US$0.6 billion) and South Korea (US$0.4 billion).

As such, Lembong projects that Chinese investment will significantly increase. “China has become the world’s second largest economy and Asia’s largest,” he said.

Lembong added that US investment is key, citing advanced technology, brands and export networks. He said that Freeport row does not reflect general investment conditions in Indonesia. “Investors see it as a special case,” he said.

BISNIS.COM