– L’Indonesia sta attraendo grandi flussi di Investimenti Esteri Diretti (IED) anche nei primi mesi 2012, dopo i $20MD ricevuti nel 2011.
– Nel 2011 il suo PIL + 6,5%, dovuto al forte aumento dei prezzi delle sue esportazioni (carbone olio di palma, e cc) e alla forte domanda interna della piccola e media borghesia in ascesa.
– Gruppi cinesi e indonesiani coopereranno per progetti del valore di oltre $17MD.
o in particolare i progetti infrastrutturali comprendono porti marittimi, strade, energia alternativa, industria motociclistica, costruzioni in aree strategiche e nello stretto della Sonda, piantagioni, turismo, oltre siderurgia e minerario.
– La Cina è divenuta il 2° partner commerciale dell’Indonesia, dopo il Giappone: negli ultimi 4 anni le sue esportazioni in Indonesia sono più che triplicate, a $26MD, come pure più che triplicato il disavanzo commerciale indonesiano verso la Cina.
o Temendo che un forte aumento delle importazioni cinesi crei disoccupazione e freni la crescita dei gruppi indonesiani, l’Indonesia ha di recente varato misure protezioniste, di restrizione a commercio e investimento.
o La Cina non è però tra i primi 5 maggiori investitori, preceduta nel 2011 da Singapore, Giappone e Usa, e anche da Sud Corea e Olanda.
I gruppi giapponesi Honda Motor, e Nissan Motor e Sharp prevedono grandi piani di espansione in Indonesia per oltre $1MD.
Updated March 24, 2012, 2:50 a.m. ET
– JAKARTA – Chinese and Indonesian companies agreed to work together on infrastructure, mining and steel projects in Indonesia worth more than $17 billion, Indonesian President Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono said during an official visit to Beijing Friday.
– Indonesia and China signed a slew of memorandums of understanding to coincide with Mr. Yudhohono’s visit to the Chinese capital. The Indonesian president landed in Beijing on Thursday evening, spent Friday in meetings there and is scheduled to move on to Hong Kong Saturday and Sunday.
– "The sectors in which cooperation has been established include seaports, roads, alternative energy, the motorcycle industry, mining, construction in strategic areas and the Sunda Strait, plantations, tourism, and the steel industry," Mr. Yudhoyono said, according to Indonesian wire service Antara News.
Neither Antara nor China’s state-run Xinhua news agency provided details of the projects and companies involved or which agreements were brand new and which were previously announced.
– Nevertheless, the potential of billions of new dollars flowing to Indonesia is the latest example of the global attention Southeast Asia’s largest economy is attracting in recent months.
– In the last two weeks alone Japanese companies including Honda Motor Co., Nissan Motor Co. and Sharp Corp. have announced massive Indonesian expansion plans requiring a total of more than $1 billion in investment.
– Last year, Indonesia received a national record amount of foreign direct investment, $20 billion, and it expects to attract more this year.
o Boosted by high prices for the coal, palm oil and other commodities it exports as well as strong consumer demand from its growing middle class, its gross domestic product expanded 6.5% last year and is projected to climb more than 6% this year as well.
– China’s big plans for Indonesia may help quiet criticism by some Indonesians who complain the country only wants to bring its products – but not its money – to the Southeast Asian archipelago. Many are concerned that a flood of Chinese imports is leading to unemployment and stunting the growth of Indonesian companies.
"They have overproduction so they just dump it in Indonesia but they don’t invest," said Sofjan Wanandi, chairman of the Employers’ Association of Indonesia, one of Indonesia’s largest business associations.
– Indeed, while China has recently climbed rapidly to become Indonesia’s second largest trading partner after Japan, it is not among the top five countries that invest most in the country. Singapore, Japan and the United States were the top investors in Indonesia last year. Even South Korea and the Netherlands invested more in Indonesia than China in 2011.
– As President Yudhoyono visits China, Indonesia is looking to redefine its relationship with its giant northern neighbor. Emboldened by its rising global profile and concerned its growing importance is attracting the wrong kind of trade and investment, Indonesia has recently unveiled a string of policies to restrict trade and investment that critics are calling protectionist and nationalist.
– Indonesia’s imports from China have more than tripled in the past four years to $26 billion. Indonesia’s exports to China have also been growing thanks to its appetite for Indonesian commodities like palm oil, tin and coal, but they haven’t kept pace. The Southeast Asian nation’s trade imbalance with China tripled over the past four years.