Investment in Indonesia picks up to quarterly record in fillip for Joko

Jakarta

FOREIGN direct investment (FDI) in Indonesia quickened in the first full quarter since Joko Widodo became president, providing a boost to the leader's goal of revitalising South-east Asia's biggest economy.

Total investment rose 16.9 per cent to a quarterly record of 124.6 trillion rupiah (S$12.7 billion) in the first three months of 2015 from a year earlier, helped by a weaker rupiah, Franky Sibarani, the head of the Indonesia Investment Coordinating Board, said in Jakarta on Tuesday. Approved foreign investment climbed 14 per cent, faster than the 10.5 per cent rate the previous quarter.