Jakarta. The upcoming 2024 presidential election does not seem to be much of a concern for Malaysian investors when deciding to invest in their close neighbor Indonesia.

According to Malaysian Investment Minister Tengku Zafrul Aziz, his country’s investors care more about the results of the feasibility study, which helps businesses gauge the success rate of the project that they are about to invest in. In other words, Malaysian investors want to know more about the financial returns if they put their money into Indonesia. A feasibility study also lays out the potential costs and risks if they decide to pursue the project.

“When it comes to investment, most Malaysian investors will look at the long term. They will look at the potentials of Indonesia, including the policies and consistency,” Tengku Zafrul told reporters on the sidelines of Jakarta’s ASEAN Investment Forum on Saturday.

“I don’t think there will be much concern about the presidential election that will happen on Feb. 14 next year. What’s more important is the commercial viability and the feasibility study. We look at the returns, etc. So the [election] is not much of a concern from my understanding when I speak to the investors," Tengku Zafrul said.

Government data shows Malaysia's investment in Indonesia in January-June 2023 totaled $1.5 billion. This money went to 1,958 projects across the Indonesian archipelago. Malaysia was Indonesia’s sixth largest source of foreign direct investment over the said period, just behind the US which invested $1.6 billion.

Malaysian Prime Minister Anwar Ibrahim’s visit to the Bogor Palace earlier this year unveiled some major investments for Nusantara, namely Indonesia’s new capital city project that lies in East Kalimantan. Anwar’s visit saw the handover of 11 letters of intent from 10 Malaysian companies. The said investments covered waste management and health, among others. Tengku Zafrul said that more MoUs have come to Nusantara since then, particularly from Sarawak, a Malaysian state which is bordered by the East Kalimantan province.

“We are slowly looking at other new possibilities as well. The feasibility studies are ongoing. The relevant companies are eagerly waiting to complete their feasibility study so they can proceed with the investment in Nusantara,” Tengku Zafrul said.

As of August 7, 19 countries had expressed their willingness to invest in the project, according to the Nusantara capital authority body. They, however, did not go into details on who these 19 countries were. Nusantara has so far received 262 letters of intent, of which, 29 of them revolve around energy-related projects. As many as 42 non-disclosure agreements have been signed.

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