Foreign Investment Up 30.3 Percent

Jakarta (Antara Bali) - Foreign investment rose 30.3 percent in the first quarter of 2012 to Rp51.5 trillion, compared with Rp39.5 trillion for the same period in the previous year.

"The rise of foreign direct investment has been the highest in Indonesia's foreign investment history, on a quarterly basis," said Gita Wirjawan, head of capital investment coordinating board (BKPM), here on Monday.

He noted that the increase in foreign investment was driven by various policies that were made to spread investments across the country's regions.

Gita, who is also the trade minister, said the increase in foreign investment in the past quarter was thanks mainly to South Korea and Japan.

Two South Korean companies that have heavily invested are Posco - in a steel plant in Cilegon, West Java, with an investment worth about US$6 billion for the next three to five years - and Hankook, with an investment of around US$1.3 billion for the next two to three years.(IGT)