Jakarta - Coordinating Minister for Maritime Affairs and Investment Luhut Binsar Pandjaitan has offered Singapore investors to invest in a number of sectors in Indonesia's new capital city in East Kalimantan Province.

Among the investment opportunities open to investors in the new capital city are alternative energy, startup and hospital, he said while addressing the Pulse of Asia Conference 2020 organized by Bank DBS in Singapore on Thursday.

"In the new capital city, you can invest in the infrastructure sector. We intend to develop the capital city into a green city. (Investment in) hospitals is also quite promising. We plan to build complete (health) facilities employing the best doctors. Some of them may be foreign nationals so (the presence of the hospital) will reduce the number of Indonesians traveling abroad for medical treatment," he said in a written statement.

.He said investment opportunities in the education sector are also widely open. The government intends to narrow the gap between education in western Indonesia and eastern Indonesia in terms of quality.

"Right now several startups are engaged in the education sector.... In addition, UAE (United Arab Emirates) will also invest in this sector. In Morowali, we have a technology university which is one of the best universities as a result of cooperation with a Chinese technology university," he said.

He said the Indonesian government is in the process of drafting two omnibus laws concerning the creation of job opportunities and taxation. The bills will be submitted to the House of Representatives (DPR) early this year.

"The laws will replace the previous laws which have the potential to overlap and hinder investment," he said. (ANTARA)

Indonesian Ambassador to Russia and Belarus, Wahid Supriyadi, in Jakarta, Thursday (09/01) invites entrepreneurs in Indonesia to know more about market potential in Russia. In a special interview with Voice of Indonesia at Indonesian Foreign Affairs Ministry, Jakarta, the ambassador said one of the challenges in developing economic cooperation between Indonesia and Russia is lack of knowledge among Indonesian entrepreneurs on market potential in Russia. Ambassador Wahid said that Russian people have always welcome exhibitions on Indonesian potentials held by the Indonesian Embassy in Russia.

This must be followed up by continuously introducing the Indonesian potentials. AmbassadorWahid Supriyadi also invites entrepreneurs in Indonesia to invest in Russia due huge potential in Russia.

“The biggest problem for us is our ignorance. Not many people in Indonesia know the potential of Russia. Don’t forget, Russia is one of the five members of Euro-Asian Economic Union. A market of 180 million people. Look at the potential of Russia by investing in Russia. It’s like this is something also encouraged by President Joko Widodo what we call it ‘outbound investment’. And the potential is there,”  said Wahid Supriyadi.

Earlier, President Joko Widodo in his direction before some Indonesian ambassadors in Jakarta said that currently Indonesian foreign diplomacyis focusing on the economic diplomacy. According to the president, the ambassadors play their roles as investment envoys, for which they need to acknowledge investment opportunities which can be used to support economic development in Indonesia. (VOI/NDY/trans-yati/AHM)

The Maritime Affairs and Fisheries Ministry has detained three Vietnamese-flagged fishing vessels in the North Natuna waters for illegal fishing.

"The vessels were captured last December 30. The Vietnamese vessels are KG 95118 TS, with five Vietnamese crew members; KG 94629 TS, with 18 Vietnamese crew members; and KG 93255 TS, with 13 Vietnamese crew members," Maritime Affairs and Fisheries Minister Edhy Prabowo stated in Sungai Kakap Sub-district of Kubu Raya District, West Kalimantan, on Thursday.

The ministry’s three patrol ships, in coordination with the Indonesian Navy and Indonesian Maritime Security Agency (Bakamla), took part in the operation to catch the illegal fishers.

"The three Vietnamese-flagged vessels resisted the arrest that resulted in damage to the ministry's patrol ships. The Ocra 03 patrol ship suffered the worst-possible damage," Prabowo stated.

The government has claimed that illegal fishing activities in the country's waters had inflicted losses to the tune of hundreds of trillions of rupiah a year to the state.

The war against illegal fishing activities has been spearheaded by former maritime and fisheries minister Susi Pudjiastuti with the support of other parties, especially the Indonesian Navy.

The government has also formed an Illegal Fishing Eradication Task Force (Task Force 115) to combat poaching in the Indonesian waters.

The Task Force 115 has synergized with other agencies and institutions in its operation.

The ministry had recently sunken 21 foreign fishing boats for poaching in Indonesian waters. In total, 41 foreign fishing boats were convicted of illegal fishing activities in the Indonesian waters. Several vessels have been sunken, while the rest will follow soon.(ANTARA)

Negotiation on Comprehensive Economic Cooperation Agreement (CEPA) between Indonesia and Turkey has run since 3 years ago, but until now there is no significant development in the discussing process. It was stated by Indonesian ambassador to Turkey, Lalu Muhammad Iqbal, in a special interview with Voice of Indonesia on Thursday (09/01) in Jakarta. According to Ambassador Lalu Muhammad Iqbal, the CEPA between Indonesia and Turkey is expected to be completed this year because Indonesia competes with a number of countries in economic relations with Turkey.

“We are competing with some other countries and those competitors have finished have finalized their CEPA their FTA with Turkey 2-3 years ago. To name a few like Malaysia for example they have finalize their FTA with Turkey in 2015. And the immediate impact to us is the shifting of market segment. For example in palm oil. We used to have 80 percent of the market segment in Turkey and Malaysia had only 20 percent market segment. And now after FTA has been signed by the 2 countries now we have only 20 percent and Malaysia have more than 80 percent. So if we can finalized by this year or next year at least we can have 50-50 percent. It means 50 percent means a potential of around 300 million USD,” said Lalu Muhammad Iqbal.

Ambassador Lalu Muhammad Iqbal mentioned that Indonesia and Turkey still have potential to increase the economic cooperation between the two countries. One of them is creative industry sector. According to the ambassador, this sector can give added value for trade cooperation of the two countries and open new opportunities for cooperation between the two countries. (VOI/ANDY/trans-yati/AHM)