Jakarta. Chief Investment Minister Luhut Binsar Pandjaitan is confident that Indonesia will not miss its investment target this year although some of the major investor countries are facing economic turmoil.

Indonesia is seeking to attract Rp 1,650 trillion, or around $105 billion, worth of investments from both domestic and foreign investors throughout 2024. Indonesia earned Rp 1,418 trillion investments in 2023. A year earlier, investors put a total of Rp 1,207 trillion in the archipelagic country. This shows that Indonesia is getting more ambitious when it comes to investments over the years.

In a recent Instagram post, Luhut admitted that some investors were on “wait-and-see” mode due to the elections. But according to Luhut, Indonesia’s success of holding the world’s largest single-day election earned praise from foreign investors.

"This reflects optimism towards the certainty of investing in Indonesia in this political year," Luhut wrote.

“It is true that some of our partner countries are facing tough economic turmoil, but that does not mean we will miss our Rp 1,650 trillion investment target."

As a case in point, Luhut said that the plan for a petrochemical industry in North Kalimantan would still go as planned. The same goes for the investment plans to build the stainless steel downstream industry, which will then produce forks and spoons, among others. 

Government data shows Singapore was Indonesia’s largest source of foreign direct investment in 2023, during which the close neighbor put in approximately $15.4 billion, followed by China ($7.4 billion), Hongkong ($6.5 billion), and Japan ($4.6 billion). In fifth place is Malaysia with FDI amounting to $4.1 billion. 

Indonesia’s investor countries are forecast to witness slower growth this year. According to the International Monetary Fund (IMF), China’s real gross domestic product (GDP) is expected to grow at a slower pace of 4.6 percent in 2024, versus the 5.2 percent the previous year. The IMF also puts Japan’s real GDP growth projections at 0.9 percent, lower than the 2023 estimates of 1.9 percent.

Japan’s economy also recently slipped into a recession after it shrank for a second quarter.