TEMPO.CO, Semarang - The Indonesian government said that Singapore is the country’s largest foreign partner with investments of over US$5.9 billion spread across 3,012 projects.
Indonesian Foreign Minister Retno Lestari Priansari Marsudi noted that Singapore is Indonesia’s key partner in a wide range of sectors, such as trade, investment, tourism, and other sectors.
The Foreign Minister said that Singapore is Indonesia’s third largest trading partner, having contributed over US$30 billion in 2015. Whereas Indonesia’s investments in Singapore reached US$1.78 billion.
Retno said that Singaporean tourist arrivals contributed US$1.5 billion to Indonesia’s foreign exchange earnings, the second largest in 2015.
“Indonesia has 200,000 formal and informal workers in Singapore. Those are the indicators which show that Singapore is the most important [partner] to Indonesia and vice versa,” he said.
Indonesian President Joko Widodo and Singapore Prime Minister Lee Hsien Loong will inaugurate the Kendal Industrial Area (KIK) on Monday, November 14. The event will see the signing of memorandums of understanding (MoU) by 25 Singaporean business owners.