December 19, 2007	Wednesday	Zilhaj 8, 1428

JAKARTA, Dec 18: Actual foreign direct investment (FDI) in Indonesia reached 10.2 billion dollars as of mid-December, the highest since 2002, National Investment Coordinating Board chief Muhammad Lutfi said Tuesday.

The figure is well up on the 5.97 billion dollars recorded for the whole of 2006 amid an improving investment climate that has lured Taiwanese and South Korean investors, he said.

“This year’s actual FDI was the highest since 2002. Investments from Taiwan and South Korea increased significantly partly because the government conducted aggressive promotions there,” Lutfi told reporters.

He said 3.29 billion dollars of FDI went into the transportation, communication, chemical, storage and food processing industries.

Meanwhile, actual domestic investment as of December 15 stood at 34.14 trillion rupiah (3.7 billion dollars), also surpassing the 20.78 trillion rupiah for the whole of last year, Lufti said.

Nearly half was poured into eight major projects in the paper and plastic industries.

Singapore was the biggest source of actual FDI at 3.74 billion dollars, followed by the United Kingdom with 1.69 billion dollars, South Korea with 626.8 million dollars, Japan with 602.7 million dollars and Taiwan with 469.6 million dollars.

Lutfi expected both actual foreign and domestic investment to grow by 15.2 per cent next year, assuming the government will not raise fuel prices.

The government subsidises fuel in Indonesia, with high global oil prices putting ongoing pressure on its budget.--AFP