Jakarta. Investment Minister Bahlil Lahadalia recently denied claims of China having a monopoly on foreign investments in Indonesia.

Government data showed that China has consistently been among Indonesia’s top foreign investors. Chinese participation in many of the country’s major projects sparked concerns if Beijing’s influence had been growing too strong. According to Bahlil, Indonesia has been inclusive in the foreign direct investment (FDI) that they accepted into the country

“Speaking of which countries are investing in Indonesia, all this time, people have been saying that it [our foreign investor] has always been China, China, China, and China. And we see these statements in Whatsapp groups which have the most hoaxes,” Bahlil told a conference at Jatinangor’s Public Administration Institute on Thursday.

“It is not true that [our foreign investments] are being monopolized by a certain country,” Bahlil said.

Singapore remained unmoved from the first spot of Indonesia's foreign investor rankings over the past five years, with Singaporean FDI totaling $15.4 billion in 2023. Indonesia drew $4.2 billion in Singaporean investments in the first quarter of 2024. But again, Bahlil claimed that a large part of the Singaporean investments belonged to Indonesian entrepreneurs who had put their money in the close neighbor. Many Indonesian businessmen had been treating Singapore as a financial hub.

China and Hong Kong have consistently been fighting for the second spot. China claimed the second position in 2023 as Chinese investments totaled $7.4 billion. Followed by Hong Kong at $6.5 billion. Hong Kong, however, beat China in the first quarter of 2024 by around $20,000 lead.

Indonesia is also attracting investments from other countries as well.

European countries had been struggling to enter Indonesia’s top 10 FDI source countries. But the Netherlands secured the 8th place in 2022 and 2023, investing around $1.2 billion and $1.3 billion, respectively. Swiss cracked the top 10 in 2021, during which it invested around $590 million, according to Bahlil. 

The US --whose ties with China have soured-- has also been maintaining its position in the top 10, placing 6th ($3.3 billion) in the 2023 ranking. Washington even rose to the 4th place in the Q1-2024 data, as American investments totaled $1.1 billion.

“We are very inclusive to all investors. We are not putting one country first. Anyone can invest here as long as they comply with the existing regulations in Indonesia,” Bahlil said.

Indonesia attracted Rp 401.5 trillion (around $24.9 billion) in combined domestic and foreign investments in the first three months of 2024. This is equivalent to 24.3 percent of what Indonesia targeted for the year, which amounted to Rp 1,650 trillion. 

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