UAE announces $10 billion investment in Indonesia
The United Arab Emirates (UAE) on Tuesday announced an investment of $10 billion in Indonesia in a plan that targets strategic sectors, including energy, agriculture and infrastructure.
Sheik Mohammed bin Zayed al-Nahyane, Crown Prince of Abu Dhabi and Deputy Commander-in-Chief of the Armed Forces, issued the directives to enhance mutual investment between the two countries.
The UAE invests through its government and private investment agencies and instruments in cooperation with the Indonesian Investment Board, which is Indonesia’s sovereign fund.
The investments will focus on strategic sectors in the Republic of Indonesia, including infrastructure, roads, ports, tourism, agriculture and other promising vital sectors with significant growth prospects and potential and contributing to the promotion of economic and social growth and progress in Indonesia.
Joko Widodo, President of the Republic of Indonesia, announced in February 2021 the appointment of members of the Supervisory and Executive Board of the Indonesian Investment Board (BOI), which was formed under the Comprehensive Employment Creation Law and was approved in October 2020.
The Council is a turning point in the governance and development of Indonesia’s investment system. The Indonesian Sovereign Fund aims to implement strategic projects that support Indonesia’s national development, including infrastructure development and the construction of the new capital in Kalimantan.
The UAE and Indonesia have strong and growing political, economic and cultural ties, and formal diplomatic relations started in 1976. The Indonesian embassy in Abu Dhabi was opened on October 28, 1978.
The UAE embassy was opened in Jakarta in 1991, following the historic visit of the late Sheik Zayed Bin Sultan Al Nahyane to Indonesia in 1990.
Relations between the two countries have grown significantly in recent years, with increased visits by leaders and senior officials from both countries. The most prominent of these visits was by Indonesian President Joko Widodo in September 2015 and by Abu Dhabi’s Crown Prince Mohammed bin Zayed Al Nahyan, Deputy Supreme Commander of the Armed Forces, in July 2019.
The two countries signed many agreements and deals in various fields of cooperation, and in this context the two sides recently concluded the event of the Emirates-Indonesia Week 2021, during which several agreements were signed on cooperation in the fields of ports, logistics, strategic and defense industries, energy, tourism, creative economy and mangrove farms.
In terms of trade and economic relations, relations between the two countries have grown markedly; Trade between the UAE and Indonesia reached $3.7 billion.
