SINGAPORE: Singapore will be in a strong position to benefit from Indonesia’s opening up to foreign investments but businesses here will need more details, said economists and business leaders.

Singapore Business Federation chairman Teo Siong Seng said: “Singapore companies have the strength and experience in some of the sectors included in the list (for opening up) — such as healthcare, airport services and distribution and warehousing.

“But we await more details from Jakarta, especially in how these policies will be implemented.”

Teo noted that there have been many new announcements in the past 18 months or so but with very little follow- through.

“I’d be more than happy to work with our Indonesian counterpart, Kadin (the Indonesian Chamber of Commerce and Industry), to follow up on how we can help Singa­pore companies invest in Indonesia.”

Standard Chartered Bank economist Jeff Ng pointed out that if Indonesia’s growth accelerates as a result of this stimulus package, it will likely be most felt in Singapore through trade and investment.

Indonesia is one of Singapore’s most important trade partners. Almost 7 per cent of trade here is with Indonesia while the republic ships almost 6 per cent of its non-oil domestic exports there, said Ng.

He also noted that in a recent survey, small and medium-sized enterprises here rank Indonesia as the second-most popular economy in Asia in which to expand their businesses.

Barclays chief economist Leong Wai Ho said that Singapore companies’ expertise with infrastructure development — such as road, rail, urban planning and clean water technologies — is likely to be sought after by the Indonesians. —The Straits Times/ANN

Published in Dawn, February 14th, 2016