Jakarta. The government announced Friday that Indonesia had amassed Rp 328.9 trillion ($22.4 billion) in investment in the first quarter of 2023.

Indonesia seeks to attract investments worth Rp 1,400 trillion throughout this year. What Indonesia had achieved so far showed that the country is now at 23.5 percent of its 2023 target, according to Investment Minister Bahlil Lahadalia.

“The total investment [of Rp 328.9 trillion] in Q1-2023 witnesses a 4.5 percent growth from Q4-2022. Investment also grew 16.5 percent year-on-year,” Bahlil told a press briefing in Jakarta on Friday.

The investment throughout the first quarter created jobs for 384,892 people. 

Foreign direct investment (FDI) accounted for 53.8 percent of the total investment over the same period, amounting to Rp 177 trillion. 

Government data shows that Singapore becomes Indonesia’s largest foreign investor in the first three months of 2023. Singaporean investment totaled $4.3 billion. Followed by Hong Kong ($1.5 billion) and China ($1.2 billion). In fourth place is Japan with $1 billion. American businesses invested $800 million in Indonesia, thus putting the US in fifth place.

 “But let me tell you this. Some of the Singaporean investment in Indonesia actually came from Indonesians,” Bahlil said.

The domestic investment totaled Rp 151.9 trillion in Jan-March 2023.

According to Bahlil, Central Sulawesi is the most popular among foreign investors as the province is home to the construction of nickel downstream industries. FDI in Central Sulawesi stood at $1.9 billion (or about Rp 28.8 trillion), representing 16.3 percent of what foreign investors had brought to the country in Q1-2023. Domestic investors mostly chose West Java as investment hit Rp 21.9 trillion over the same period. 

Investment outside Java reached Rp 172.9 trillion, accounting for 52.6 percent of the total investment recorded in the January-March period. This marks a 16.3 percent year-on-year increase.

“Investors will likely prefer investing outside Java in the future. They have cheaper labor costs. Infrastructure and logistics in other regions outside Java would have improved by then. They are also home to raw materials,” Bahlil said.

Basic metal, metal products, non-machinery, and its equipment industry took the lion’s share of investment coming to Indonesia. The industry attracted Rp 46.7 trillion in Q1-2023.