"The realization of investment from January to December 2016 reached Rp612.8 trillion, increasing by 12.4 percent, as compared to Rp545.4 trillion in 2015," Azhar Lubis, the deputy for capital investment implementation control of the National Investment Board (BKPM), stated here on Wednesday.
Lubis explained that the realization of domestic investment was recorded at Rp216.2 trillion, up 20.5 percent, while foreign investment realization reached Rp396.6 trillion, or increased by 8.4 percent.
In the fourth quarter of 2016 or from October to December 2016, investment realization totaled Rp159.4 trillion, increasing by 9.6 percent compared to the same period in 2015.
The realization of domestic investment during the period reached Rp58.1 trillion, up 25.8 percent, while foreign investment was recorded at Rp101.3 trillion, growing by 2.1 percent.
Some 434,466 workers were absorbed in the fourth quarter of 2016, while the annual figure had reached 1,392,380.
Thomas Lembong, the BKPM head, noted that as compared to 2015, the growth was significant, especially with regard to domestic investment.
"Domestic investment grew two folds bigger than the foreign investment," he pointed out.
He said 2015 was a difficult year for domestic investors owing to various incidents that had dampened their confidence.
"There was the AirAsia incident, peatland fires, and also political problems. Thank God, however, based on our data, domestic sentiment continued to improve in 2016, causing quite a major leap," he noted.
Lembong stated that investors had begun welcoming the changes made by President Joko Widodo and Vice President Jusuf Kalla.
"I feel that investor confidence is at the highest positive level. Hence, we must maintain it. We, as part of the cabinets economic team, will maintain the positive momentum as well as the reform efforts and investor confidence," he added.(*)
Editor: Heru Purwanto
Copyright © ANTARA 2017
