Jakarta  - The value of Middle Eastern investment  in Indonesia until 2009 could reach  10 billion US dollars depending on the facilities the government can give the investors, a state enterprise official said about the outcome of a World Islamic Economic Forum (WIEF) meeting he had attended in Kuwait recently.

"Some 10 billion US dollars' worth of Middle Eastern investment wants  to enter Indonesia if we can be responsive to the plan," PT Telkom Chief Commissioner Tanri Abeng said here Monday.

He made the statement when asked what had transpired for Indonesia at a recent WIEF meeting in Kuwait which he attended as a member of the forum's advisory board.

The presence of Middle Eastern businessmen at the on-going Indonesian Regional Investment Forum (IRIF) 2008 in Jakarta was another indication of their interest in investing in Indonesia, he said.

He admitted, so far, little Middle Eastern investment had come to Indonesia but he said he was sure this would change radically by the time the next IRIF was held in February 2009. "Then, we can hope, Middle Eastern capital will really flow into the country," he said.

If the government showed seriousness and there were not too many bureaucratic obstacles, the country could expect the inflow of as much as 10 billion US dollars' worth of investment from the Middle East, Abeng reiterated.

So far, Middle Eastern investors were still eyeing opportunities in such sectors as oil and gas and mining. A specific  mining commodity  they were interested in was coal which they intended to resell, Abeng said.  

- Source : Antara News Agency, 27 May 2008