Indonesia woos Hong Kong investors with infrastructure development plan
Official hopes the city will help country to achieve its ambitious infrastructure target
Indonesia is wooing Hong Kong investors with its ambitious infrastructure development road map and hopes that the city will at least regain the No 4 slot it held in the 1980s in terms of foreign direct investment in the country.
Last year Hong Kong slipped to ninth place in the rankings.
The scheme would create jobs and help the Indonesian government achieve its aim of stopping its citizens from working abroad as maids by 2017, said Ratna Lestari Harjana, Indonesia's consular official in charge of economic matters in the city.
In an interview to discuss trade relations, she said the government under President Joko Widodo was also looking to Hong Kong as it strived to wipe out corruption and inspire confidence among foreign investors.
"We are trying hard to tackle corruption. If we can tackle that, if we manage to have good governance, the foreign investors will be confident. And also there will no be hanky-panky in the tender process," she said.
"It's not easy because it's been [like that] for ages. We are learning from the ICAC here."
The Indonesian government recently rolled out an infrastructure development road map. It is inviting foreign investment to build 15 airports, 24 ports, 35 power plants, 1,000km of toll roads, 3,258km of railways, eight special economic zones and 14 industrial estates by 2019.
