TEMPO.CO, Bandung - Mohammad Maliki Osman, Singaporean Senior Minister of State for Defence and Foreign Affairs, said that he was interested in developing the food processing industry in West Java.
"In Singapore, we want to known how food is being processed from its original ingredients," Osman said after a meeting with West Java Governor Ahmad Heryawan in Bandung on Tuesday, July 26, 2016.
Osman added that the idea would be pitched to investors in his country.
"My purpose is to look at potentials here. West Java has good potentials for our investors," Osman said.
Osman revealed that his agenda in the meeting with the West Java government was to strengthen ties between Indonesia and Singapore.
"Singapore and Indonesia have maintained diplomatic relationship. Next year, we will celebrate the 50th anniversary of the diplomatic relationship," Osman added.
Dadang M. Ma'soem, head of the West Java branch of the Investment Coordinating Agency (BKPM), said that the Singaporean representatives inquired about a possibility of cooperation.
"The governor wants raw agriculture products should not be exported, but instead being processed in Indonesia. The opportunity is wide open. Singapore are interested in the idea because the country has no agricultural land," Dadang said on Tuesday, July 26, 2016.
Dadang explained that Singapore the second biggest investor in West Java.
"Singapore is now second. The biggest [investor] is Japan," Dadang said without revealing the details.
In 2015, the investment realization in West Java stood at Rp 121 trillion (US$9.3 billion), exceeding the target set at Rp 100 trillion (US$7.6 billion).
"This year's target is US$120 trillion (US$9.2 billion). But I think we can manage to realize Rp 140 trillion (US$10.7 billion) worth of investment," Dadang said.
AHMAD FIKRI
