VOI - Voice of Indonesia | RRI - Radio Republik Indonesia

Coordinating Minister for Economic Affairs Airlangga Hartarto said 143 companies plan to reallocate investment to Indonesia, including from the United States (US), Taiwan, South Korea, Hong Kong, Japan, and China.

"Data from The Capital Investment Coordinating Board [BKPM] shows that 143 companies have plans to reallocate investment to Indonesia with the potential to absorb more than 300 thousand workers," he said at the HSBC Economic Forum event in Jakarta, on Wednesday.

Airlangga stated that the reallocation plan indicated that the COVID-19 pandemic had provided valuable lessons that supply chains of goods can't be centralized in one country.

"Now many multinational companies are starting to relocate from China to other Asian countries, especially ASEAN," he said.

Airlangga said this was an opportunity for Indonesia to replace China's position as an investment destination for new supply chain relationships in the global market.

However, he realizes that the risk of uncertainty this year is still very high so that the Indonesian economy faces both external and internal challenges. He explained that pressure from the external side was a global uncertainty that had its roots in the COVID-19 pandemic, causing the global economy to be predicted to remain bad.

On the internal side, the economic growth for Indonesia in the second quarter contracted by 5.32 percent. Therefore, Airlangga confirmed that the government is preparing various policies in order to overcome these external and internal pressures.

He explained that the steps and policies that the government is pursuing include completing the discussion on the Job Creation Bill with the House of Representatives so investments can increase. They also compile a list of investment priorities that include the areas that will be provided with both tax and non-tax facilities.

"We belief that the Indonesian economy, through concrete and appropriate policies, will be able to overcome the challenges in 2020. Together we hope that in the future the Indonesian economy will be stronger and more successful," he said. (Antaranews)