More major investments from China
Industry Minister Agus Gumiwang Kartasasmita discussed new cooperation in the industrial sector during a recent meeting with the Chinese Minister of Industry and Information Technology (MIIT) Jin Zhuanglong. The meeting paves the way for more and bigger China investments in petrochemicals, new energy vehicles, and even photovoltaics.
Indonesia-Australia EV Alliance
Indonesia hosts the world’s largest nickel resources, while Australia controls the biggest reserves of lithium. China, the world’s largest producer of electric vehicle (EV), is in the mix because of its dominant position in the nickel-EV chain, but has a more complicated trade relations with Australia.
Tourism Recovery
Indonesia welcomed 997,432 visits of foreign tourists in May 2023, an increase of 9.21% from April. It yet to return to pre-pandemic level (1.2 million in May 2019), but getting closer to full recovery with stronger growth of Chinese tourists (+16.3% month-on-month).
The Improved Connectivity & Domestic Tourism
Almost all toll roads were packed by cars during the long weekend holiday last week, including those in the trans-Sumatra. Domestic tourism industry has revived strongly and will likely continue to grow with completion of new toll roads and mass transportation projects in the coming months.
Greater Bandung: What’s Up?
On January 21, 2016, President Joko ‘Jokowi’ Widodo promised West Java governor Ridwan Kamil to support the development of light-rail transit (LRT) in Greater Bandung area, which will be connected to the Jakarta-Bandung high-speed train (HST). That was the groundbreaking day of HST construction.
Seaweed investments to watch
Indonesia has enormous potential of approximately 12 million hectares of seaweed cultivation area, of which only 0.8% is currently utilized with a production of around 9 million tons in 2021. For this reason, President Joko ‘Jokowi’ Widodo recently instructed the Ministry of Maritime Affairs and Fisheries Wahyu Trenggono to carry out the development of downstream industries of seaweed products by establishing pilot projects in Buleleng (Bali), Wakatobi (Southeast Sulawesi), Southeast Maluku (Maluku), Rote Ndao (East Nusa Tenggara), and West Nusa Tenggara province.
Electric motorcycle industry so far
Sales of electric motorcycle in Indonesia might have been slower than expected, but series of policy initiatives gradually boost outlook of the industry. Some companies have geared up investments in developing assembling facilities to tap the growing market.
Bandung-Surabaya High-Speed Train
Luhut Binsar Pandjaitan, coordinating minister for maritime and investment affairs, looked upbeat with progress of the Bandung-Jakarta high-speed train (HST). He was on board the train during a trial run, which for the first time reached 350 KM per hour speed. Looked satisfied, Luhut then talked about extension of the route from Bandung to Surabaya.
Go East: Maluku
Unlike its nickel-rich neighbor in the north, Maluku province in the south only contributed 0.04% of Indonesia’s total export in the first five months of 2023. The province, however, has enormous untapped resources, especially fisheries and oil & gas. Maluku province is home to the long-delayed US$20 billion Abadi LNG project.
Go East: North Maluku
North Maluku was nowhere in the export map of Indonesia few years ago. In 2020, however, export value from the province reached US$1.04 billion or 0.64% of the country’s total export. Last year, export value from North Maluku skyrocketed to US$8.19 billion or 2.8% of Indonesia’s total export.