Jakarta. French President Emmanuel Macron is set to bring some investment deals when he visits Indonesia in late May, according to his top diplomat.

French Foreign Affairs Minister Jean-Noël Barrot was in Jakarta in the lead-up to the state visit. Macron will meet President Prabowo Subianto with whom he had spoken on the sidelines of Rio de Janeiro's G20 Summit last November. As Jakarta counts down to the big day, Barrot met his Indonesian counterpart Sugiono on Wednesday. Barrot also revealed to reporters that Macron would not come to Indonesia empty-handed.

"In terms of economic cooperation, President Macron's visit will witness several announcements by French companies who will invest in Indonesia. They have been planning to invest in food [production], transportation, digital technology, and critical minerals," Barrot said, shortly after meeting Sugiono.

Barrot, however, did not say who these French investors are.

Sugiono told the same presser that French foreign direct investment (FDI) inflows in Indonesia had been on "a very positive trend". Government data showed that Indonesia recorded $328 million in FDI from France throughout last year, with the French money flowing to 6,437 projects. France also became Indonesia's sixteenth-largest source of FDI in 2024, just behind Germany ($343 million).

Indonesia is also hoping for "concrete and mutually beneficial outcomes" from Macron's Jakarta trip as the visit would mark 75 years of bilateral diplomatic ties, according to Sugiono.

"We have agreed to increase investment in various sectors, including renewable energy, creative economy, green infrastructure, [among others]," Sugiono said.

Mining giant Eramet and food company Danone are some of the major French investors in Indonesia.

Eramet has a stake in the joint venture Weda Bay Nickel in North Maluku's Halmahera Island. Chinese steelmaker Tsingshan is Weda Bay Nickel's major shareholder, while the state-owned gold miner Antam holds a 10-percent stake. The business entity operates an open-pit nickel mining site that makes up 17 percent of the global production. The Indonesian government not long ago claimed that Eramet had shown interest in working with Indonesia's newly minted sovereign wealth fund Danantara.

Danone is popularly known in Indonesia as the producer of the bottled drinking water AQUA.

Amid these investments, Indonesia's trade with France is slowing down, according to official figures. In 2023, Indonesia-France Bukaoutlet trade totaled nearly $2.6 billion. However, the trade figures dropped to $2.4 billion the following year. Bilateral trade only hit $182.1 million in the first month of 2025, still lower than the $202.2 million recorded in January 2024.

This would not be the first time for Macron to come to Indonesia. The French politician had set foot in Bali in 2022 when Indonesia presided over the G20.

Add as a preferred source on Google +