From: Antara News
Jakarta (ANTARA News) - Indonesia will in the next five years focus its ties with Japan by raising the flow of Japanese investment to Indonesia in the wake of the global economic crisis, an envoy said.

The signing of the Agreement on Strategic Partnership for Peaceful and Prosperous Future in 2006 and the Indonesia-Japan Economic Partnership Agreement (IJEPA) in 2007 has laid a firm basis for the promotion of bilateral relations, Indonesian Ambassador to Japan Jusuf Anwar said here on Saturday.

One of the efforts the Indonesian government has made to attract more Japanese investors is conducting a market breakthrough in Japan by promoting the products of small-and medium-scale industries, organizing self-financing exhibitions and performing art and cultural shows, he said.

In 2008, Japan ranked third in terms of foreign investment in Indonesia with a total investment of US$1.365 billion in 130 projects.

But because of the global economic meltdown last year, Japanese investment in Indonesia plunged to US$580 million in 103 projects in the January-October 2009 period.

Japan is one of the main export markets for Indonesia, buying nearly 18 percent of the latter`s export commodities.

Indonesia enjoyed a surplus of US$19.92 billion in its trade with Japan in 2008 when its exports to Japan were valued at US$32.53 billion while its imports from the East Asian country was recorded at US$12.61 billion.

The surplus fell to US$10.3 billion in the first ten months of 2009 as a result of the global economic crisis, the ambassador said.(*)

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