Indonesia welcomes foreign investment in petrochemical industry

26-Jun-07

Muhammad Lutfi, chairman of Indonesia's Investing Coordinating Board, has said that foreign investors would be particularly welcome in the area of downstream value-adding derivatives in the petrochemical industry at the World Economic Forum on East Asia which opened Sunday in Singapore. The government was committed to a program of developing 42 derivative industries providing downstream value-added products in the petrochemical sector. To achieve the targeted economic growth of 6.6% pa over the next three years and thereby reduce unemployment from current levels of 9.7% to 5.5% and the number of people living below the poverty line from 36 million to 17 million, Indonesia would require investments totaling some US$426 bln. The government will contribute around US$72.4 bln of this investment bill, leaving a targeted contribution of US$358.8 bln from the private sector (both domestic and foreign).