Jayanty Nada Shofa, Jakarta – President Joko "Jokowi" Widodo recently promoted Indonesia's enormous potential in industrial raw materials, green energy, and digital economy to American business leaders in hopes that they would make investment in the country.

Indonesia has been in an active pursuit of investors, with the government consistently showcasing the country's investment potentials at many high-profile events. This time, Indonesia looked for American investors at the Asean-US Special Summit with American business leaders in Washington DC on Thursday.

At the summit, Jokowi tried to woo American companies with Indonesia's abundant natural resources and robust digital economy growth.

"With a population of 270 million people, the majority of whom are of productive age, Indonesia continues to make breakthroughs and innovations to be able to advance. With a vast area and abundant natural resources, Indonesia is very rich in industrial raw materials and green energy," Jokowi told the forum.

Indonesia is one of the world's largest producers of nickel – a critical component of stainless steel and lithium-ion battery cells. The enormous production of nickel has propelled Indonesia's stainless steel industry. The country now ranks second in the global stainless steel production, according to Jokowi.

"This transformation will be followed by mining goods, such as copper and bauxite for aluminums, which will serve as the backbone for new and renewable industry, including lithium batteries and electric vehicles," the president said.

On green energy, Indonesia has 4,400 rivers for hydropower plants, and a potential of 29,000 megawatts of geothermal energy. There is also a huge potential for solar power plants. Jokowi went on to say that Indonesia will make sure that environmentally friendly power plants will power the production of essential goods.

"We invite American businesses to invest in Indonesia," he said.

Like green energy, Indonesia's digital economy also has great potential for investors.

According to Jokowi, Southeast Asia's digital economy is expected to reach $330 billion in value by 2025. Indonesia's digital economy is also forecast to enjoy a 20 percent annual growth, and will likely reach $146 billion by the same year.

Indonesia is currently home to 2,346 startups with 2 decacorns and 8 unicorns. The number of startups in Indonesia is also the fifth-largest globally.

"Hopefully, American businesses can contribute in developing [Indonesia's] digital infrastructure, facilitating digital capacity building, and helping us enter the global value chain with digitalization," Jokowi said.

The summit saw participation from business representatives from top American companies such as Google, Chevron, Boeing, Qualcomm, ConocoPhillips, among others.

"I hope this meeting will be a momentum for the US' return in the region through its companies with a mutually beneficial partnership. We are waiting for you in Asean, especially in Indonesia," Jokowi said.

Source: https://jakartaglobe.id/business/us-investors-feel-free-to-invest-in-indonesi