Malaysia,Indonesia record total trade of RM13.9b in Q1 2015

KUCHING: Malaysia and Indonesia recorded total trade amounting to RM13.98 billion in the first quarter of this year, said Indonesian Consul General to Sarawak, Jahar Gultom.

He said of the total amount, the oil and gas sector accounted for RM2.91 billion while non-oil and gas sector constituted RM11.07 billion.

He said this at a luncheon talk, entitled "Indonesia and Sarawak: Venturing into a New Level of Economic and Trade Collaboration" after the 64th annual general meeting of the Sarawak Chamber of Commerce and Industry here on Tuesday.

"In the same period, Indonesia's exports to Malaysia totalled RM7.52 billion while imports from Malaysia amounted to RM6.46 billion," he said.

Indonesia had also recorded approved investments amounting to US$2.35 billion from Malaysia during the same period.

"The Indonesian Investment Coordinating Board considered this as the biggest investment from Malaysia since 2010," he added.

However, Jahar said it could still be maximised as this amounted to only about 28% out of the US$16.14 billion which Malaysia planned to invest in Indonesia.

Malaysia's investment in the republic were in five main sectors, he added.

The sectors are construction with US$1.37 billion investment; agriculture and plantation (US$1.29 billion); food and beverage industry (US$532.55 million); basic pharmaceutical and chemical industry (US$214.58 million) and transportation and communication with US$142.65 million.

"The biggest investment is in Java with US$1.97 billion, followed by Kalimantan-Borneo with US$1.28 billion and Sumatra (US$780 million).

The others are in Sulawesi (US$39.4 million), Papua (US$12.5 million) and Bali-Nusa Tenggara with US$12 million.

Meanwhile, Jahar called on Malaysian businessmen to consider investing in various infrastructure projects which the Indonesian government under President Joko Widodo had decided to implement this year to facilitate and enhance the country's economic growth.

He said there were eight 'ready to offer' projects, nine 'prospective' projects and 17 'potential' projects, open for Public-Private Partnership (PPP) for local and international companies.

The eight ready to offer projects are the Bandung Light Rapid Transit, Soekarno-Hatta International Airport-Jakarta Railway project, Tanjung Enim-Tanjung Api-Api Coal Railway in South Sumatra and the solid waste treatment plant and final disposal in Bogor and Depok area in West Java.

The others are the Pondok Gede Water Supply (West Java), Pekan Baru Water Supply (Riau), West Semarang Water Supply (Central Java) and the Soreang-Pasir Koja Toll Road (West Java).

Jahar said the details on these projects could be obtained by contacting the Indonesia Investment Coordinating Board. - Bernama