India Inc to invest $15 bn in Indonesia

With India’s Free Trade Agreement in goods with the Association of South East Asian Nations (ASEAN) already in effect since October 2010, Prime Minister Manmohan Singh and the visiting Indonesian president Sushilo Bambang Yudhoyono set a target of raising the bilateral trade from $11.8 billion last year to $25 billion by 2015.

The two countries also signed Extradition Treaty as well as Mutual Legal Assistance Treaty in addition to seven other Memoranda of Understanding (MoUs) for enhancing bilateral cooperation in education, trade, energy, science and technology.

The 18 business deals Indian and Indonesian companies inked on Tuesday made India the second largest investor in Indonesia, also the largest country in the ASEAN. They are also likely to give New Delhi an edge over Beijing in India-China race for strategic investments in the neighbourhood and beyond.

China currently ranks 11th in the roll of foreign investors in Indonesia. Beijing too has an FTA with the ASEAN and it came into effect on January 1 this year.