REPUBLIKA.CO.ID, JAKARTA -- President Joko "Jokowi" Widodo emphasized that he will not offer the natural resources sector in Indonesia to the Singaporean investors during his visit to the Island country on July 28-29.
"I do not want to sell the natural resources," noted President Jokowi prior to his departure at the Halim Perdanakusumah Airport here on Tuesday.
Instead, Jokowi aims to encourage Singaporean investors to focus their investment on infrastructure, such as deep sea ports, power plants, and toll roads.
Justifying his decision, Jokowi explained that Indonesia will always place its national interests first while cooperating with any country, including Singapore.
"National interests are the motivation for cooperation with other countries," he noted.
During his two-day visit in Singapore, President Jokowi is being accompanied by Coordinating Minister for Economic Affairs Sofjan Djalil, Foreign Affairs Minister Retno Marsudi, Administrative and Bureaucratic Reform Minister Yuddy Chrisnandy, and Sports and Youth Affairs Minister Imam Nahrawi.
The visit will focus on increasing economic cooperation between the two countries, one of which is to discuss the development of Batam area.
Indonesia and Singapore signed a cooperation agreement to develop Batam, Bintan, and Karimun special economic zone (KEK BBK) in 2006, but the progress has been stagnant.
"I will focus on discussing about the development in Batam and Bintan-Karimun since we have never placed weightage on them for years," President Jokowi stated.
The president also remarked that Indonesia will give heed to what Singapore needs in order to invest in the development in Batam area.
"The most important thing is that the development of Batam and its surrounding area must be continued. I do not want it to be stagnant," he emphasized.
Currently, Singapore is one of Indonesia's key partners in the sectors of trade, investment, and tourism.
In 2014, bilateral trade between Indonesia and Singapore amounted to US$41.99 billion, the second-largest after that with China.
In the investment sector, Singapore ranked first in the last five years, with as many as 2,056 projects worth US$5.8 billion last year.
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