Saudis boosts investment in Indonesia
In an aim to support Saudi investors in Indonesia, the Jeddah-based Islamic Development Bank (IDB) has set up a business office in Jakarta, the bank said in a release this week. It is the first such office outside of Saudi Arabia.
“We intend to make it easier for our investors to come to Indonesia and introduce them to various prospective sectors. Presently, Indonesia is not very well-known by these investors and this has prevented them from doing business here,” said Khaled Al Aboodi, CEO of the Islamic Corporation for Development of Private Sector (ICD), IDB’s arm which focuses on private sector cooperation.
The IDB said it is hoping to further mobilise its resources and promote Indonesia as a major investment destination for its members.
“It is important to connect more investors from fellow Muslim countries with Indonesia, a vibrant economy that offers lots of investment potential,” Al Aboodi said.
The IDB is currently conducting a three-year programme in Indonesia under a partnership strategy, which distributes 3.3 billion in loans until 2014 to the development of the country’s public sector, including infrastructure, education and Shariah-based finance and economy. Previously, the bank also channeled funds to speed up infrastructure development in the country together with the Asian Development Bank.
The IDB also holds a stake in Bank Mualamat, one of Indonesia’s largest Shariah-compliant banks, and is looking into possibilities to acquire a local bank to convert it into an Islamic one.
Al Aboodi said that a number of potential investors from the GCC, particularly Saudi Arabia, Kuwait and Qatar, had expressed interest in investing in Southeast Asia’s largest economy. Specific interests were in natural resources processing, power generation and Islamic finance.
Saudi Arabia’s state oil company Aramco has committed to invest $10 billion into an oil refinery that will be built in partnership with Indonesia’s oil major Pertamina in Java. Another refinery will be set up by Pertamina together with Kuwait Petroleum.
“They are very interested because there’s a lot of liquidity there and they are looking for destinations for investment and one of these nations is Indonesia,” Al Aboodi said.
The business forum could also facilitate expansion of local companies with business models overseas, particularly within IDB’s member countries, he added.
[caption id="attachment_4617" align="alignleft" width="300"] Saudi Aramco plans to invest $10 billion into a refinery in Indonesia[/caption] In an aim to support Saudi investors in Indonesia, the Jeddah-based Islamic Development Bank (IDB) has set up a business office in Jakarta, the bank said in a release this week. It is the first such office outside of Saudi Arabia. "We intend to make it easier for our investors to come to Indonesia and introduce them to various prospective sectors. Presently, Indonesia is not very well-known by these investors and this has prevented them from doing business here," said Khaled Al Aboodi, CEO...
In an aim to support Saudi investors in Indonesia, the Jeddah-based Islamic Development Bank (IDB) has set up a business office in Jakarta, the bank said in a release this week. It is the first such office outside of Saudi Arabia.
“We intend to make it easier for our investors to come to Indonesia and introduce them to various prospective sectors. Presently, Indonesia is not very well-known by these investors and this has prevented them from doing business here,” said Khaled Al Aboodi, CEO of the Islamic Corporation for Development of Private Sector (ICD), IDB’s arm which focuses on private sector cooperation.
The IDB said it is hoping to further mobilise its resources and promote Indonesia as a major investment destination for its members.
“It is important to connect more investors from fellow Muslim countries with Indonesia, a vibrant economy that offers lots of investment potential,” Al Aboodi said.
The IDB is currently conducting a three-year programme in Indonesia under a partnership strategy, which distributes 3.3 billion in loans until 2014 to the development of the country’s public sector, including infrastructure, education and Shariah-based finance and economy. Previously, the bank also channeled funds to speed up infrastructure development in the country together with the Asian Development Bank.
The IDB also holds a stake in Bank Mualamat, one of Indonesia’s largest Shariah-compliant banks, and is looking into possibilities to acquire a local bank to convert it into an Islamic one.
Al Aboodi said that a number of potential investors from the GCC, particularly Saudi Arabia, Kuwait and Qatar, had expressed interest in investing in Southeast Asia’s largest economy. Specific interests were in natural resources processing, power generation and Islamic finance.
Saudi Arabia’s state oil company Aramco has committed to invest $10 billion into an oil refinery that will be built in partnership with Indonesia’s oil major Pertamina in Java. Another refinery will be set up by Pertamina together with Kuwait Petroleum.
“They are very interested because there’s a lot of liquidity there and they are looking for destinations for investment and one of these nations is Indonesia,” Al Aboodi said.
The business forum could also facilitate expansion of local companies with business models overseas, particularly within IDB’s member countries, he added.
