Indonesia, Saudi Arabia discuss renewable energy investment
Jakarta, The Gulf Observer: Indonesian Investment Minister Bahlil Lahadalia discussed investment in new, renewable energy (EBT) and hospital development during a meeting with Saudi Arabian Investment Minister Khalid A. Al-Falih on Thursday.
“As per President Joko Widodo’s directive, Indonesia is very welcoming when it comes to investment, particularly in industry downstreaming and green economy that utilizes green energy and industry. We kicked off with mineral resources downstreaming. This is a significant opportunity, and I sought collaboration in investment between Saudi Arabia and Indonesia,” Minister Lahadalia said in the meeting that took place in Riyadh, Saudi Arabia, according to a statement received here on Friday.
The minister spoke about Indonesia’s initiative in mining sector downstreaming at the meeting. The effort — which was initiated four years earlier — began with the ban on nickel exports, he said.
The minister drew attention to the effort to encourage downstreaming of other mineral resources, which includes the ban on the export of such products —such as bauxite, copper concentrate, and tin — that will become effective in 2023.
Minister Al-Falih responded positively to the initiative and expressed his readiness to explore the prospect of investments with Indonesia in new and renewable energy and hospital development.
The Saudi Arabian minister also said that his country has a great connection with Indonesia, both in terms of economic and diplomatic relations.
Al-Falih commended Indonesia’s commitment to pursuing economic transformation through natural resources downstreaming with the objective of cutting dependency on raw materials.
The two ministers agreed that they can still explore investment opportunities that exist between them considering they still have plenty of potential to be tapped into.
“Saudi Arabia is ready to explore investment collaboration opportunities with Indonesia, particularly in renewable energy and hospital development. We will follow up the result of this meeting and formulate it into a more concrete item so as to encourage the realization of Saudi Arabia’s investment in Indonesia,” Al-Falih said.
According to data from the Investment Ministry, Saudi Arabia’s investment in Indonesia from 2018 to the first quarter of 2023 reached US$26.5 million. That figure does not include investments in the financial and oil and gas upstreaming sectors.
Tertiary sector investment dominated the investment, with its value capped at US$24.78 million, or accounting for 94 percent of the total investment from Saudi Arabia. Of the figure, US$16.93 million was contributed by investment in the housing, industrial area, and office sectors.
Within the previous five years, the Gulf country has invested as much as US$10.3 million —39 percent of the total investment value— in Bali province, and the rest in West Java, East Java, Jakarta, and East Kalimantan.
Data from 2013 to the first quarter of 2023 showed that Saudi Arabia has invested a total of US$64.6 million, spread across 423 projects.
