Indonesia Expects $34mln in Shipbuilding Investments
By Aiswarya Lakshmi
Tuesday, September 29, 2015
The Investment Coordinating Board (BKPM) is looking to book millions of dollars of investment realization in the shipbuilding industry by the year-end as domestic demand is expected to skyrocket following the government’s instruction to prioritize the utilization of locally produced vessels, reports The Jakarta Post.
BKPM head Franky Sibarani said his office eyed Rp 500 billion (US$34.03 million) of investment realization in the industry. He mentioned the target after securing commitments from several ministries, institutions, state-owned enterprises (SOEs) and private companies to absorb locally produced ships.
Industry Minister Saleh Husin was among the attendees. “The meeting is a follow up to President Joko “Jokowi” Widodo’s instruction to boost Indonesia’s ship industry,” said Franky on Friday.
As of June, he said, the BKPM had issued investment principle licenses for the industry worth Rp 1.7 trillion while the investment realization value reached Rp 153 billion. The amount was higher than the industry’s total investment of Rp 1.62 trillion as of December last year and investment realization of Rp 210 billion.
This year, BKPM hopes to book an investment-realization target of Rp 519.5 trillion from all business activities. Franky expressed optimism about fulfilling the target in the shipbuilding industry as several investors had shown an interest and would likely start their projects this year.
“Chinese investors will invest around US$50 million, and around $150 million from Australia. However, the Taiwanese have not made final decisions yet as they are still determining their project locations,” he said, adding that investors from Italy were expected to follow.
The Italian investors hope to meet Franky some time in the third week of October. Minister Saleh said at the same event that the shipbuilding industry needed to be upscaled because demand would be higher in the future.