Jokowi Invites Japanese Companies To Invest In IKN

President Joko Widodo sat next to Japanese Prime Minister Fumio Kishida while attending the Working Session of G7/ANTARA/HO-Biro Press Setpres/am Partners.

JAKARTA - President Joko Widodo invited Japanese companies to invest in the development of the State Capital (IKN), Nusantara.

The invitation was conveyed by Jokowi during a meeting with the CEO of Meeting with major Japanese companies on the sidelines of the G7 Summit in Hiroshima on Sunday (21/5).

"Mr. President has said several times that he is happy to work with Japan because the quality is good, but expects the price to be more competitive," said Foreign Minister Retno Marsudi, quoted by ANTARA, Monday, May 22.

In order to attract Japanese investment in priority sectors such as industrial downstreaming, energy transition, and IKN development, Jokowi assured them that amid the uncertainty of the world economy, the Indonesian economy is one of those that withstands that uncertainty.

Jokowi refers to data from the International Monetary Fund (IMF) which projects Indonesia's economy to grow 5 percent in 2023 and 5.1 percent next year.

Indonesia's economic growth is expected to be far above the world's economic growth average and the G20.

"Therefore, the President said that investing in Indonesia is very promising. There is a strong commitment from the government to continue to increase the investment climate and competitiveness," said Retno.

Retno assessed that the Japanese government showed its commitment to supporting investment cooperation with Indonesia, which was shown by the presence of Japanese Prime Minister Masfumi Mori's Advisor in the CEO meeting.

The activity was also attended by two Japanese financial institutions (JICA and JBIC), four Japanese employers' associations (JETRO, JIBH, JBC, J-CODE), and 24 companies.

The meeting resulted in five memorandums of understanding (MoU) between the IKN Authority and JICA, JBIC, JIBH, JCODE, and UR, and 24 documents that stated the initial commitment of cooperation (LoI) between the IKN Authority and Japanese companies.