Indonesia announced Friday that it had attracted Rp 1,714.2 trillion or approximately $105 billion throughout 2024 with a significant portion of the money coming from international investors.

Former President Joko “Jokowi” Widodo had set a goal for Indonesia to register Rp 1,650 trillion in combined investments in his final year in office. This means that Indonesia managed to achieve 103.9 percent of the target despite a shift in presidency to the incumbent President Prabowo Subianto in the fourth quarter. The overall investment flowing into Indonesia witnessed a 20.8 percent year-on-year (yoy) growth, according to Investment Minister Rosan Roeslani. These investments also created jobs for almost 2.5 million people. 

Foreign direct investments (FDI) made up 52.5 percent of what Indonesia had recorded throughout last year, amounting to Rp 900.2 trillion. 

The basic metal industry was the most sought-after among foreign investors who had put their money in resource-rich Indonesia that year. FDI in this subsector hit $13.6 billion, seconded by the mining subsector which registered $5.2 billion from international investors.

“For the past 10 years, Singapore has always been our top foreign investor. Last year, we recorded $20.1 billion in FDI from Singapore in January-December 2024. Hong Kong was our second-largest FDI source with $8.2 billion, and then we have China at $8.1 billion,” Rosan told a press briefing in Jakarta.

FDI inflows from close neighbor Malaysia reached $4.2 billion. The US, which had recently witnessed President Donald Trump’s return to the White House, invested $3.7 billion in Indonesia last year. 

Southeast Asia’s largest economy is currently trying to move its commodities up the value chain as part of a massive downstream industry development plan. Indonesia is nudging international manufacturers into setting up their production plants in the country, regardless of the sector: be it mineral mining, agriculture, or even forestry.  This way, the country can add value to its commodity exports. 

According to Rosan, investors appear to be on board with the plan as data shows downstream industries recorded Rp 407.8 trillion in investments for the entirety of 2024. This is equivalent to 23.8 percent of the total investments that Indonesia saw that year. 

About Rp 245.2 trillion of the investments went to mineral smelting industries. The nickel-abundant Indonesia booked Rp 153.2 trillion in the smelting industry of the silvery-white lustrous metal over the same period. Indonesia’s downstream industry development masterplan began with nickel, starting with an export ban on its unprocessed ores in 2020. Data also shows the Indonesian electric vehicle battery ecosystem registered Rp 8.4 trillion in investments in 2024.

“We believe that investments in the downstream industry development will continue to rise. It is one of President Prabowo Subianto’s priority programs. … We are working on developing the industrialization in other commodities beyond the existing ones like minerals,” Rosan said.