It has recently been disclosed that the United Arab Emirates (UAE) is investing USD 32.7 billion in Indonesia across different sectors, including for Covid-19 vaccine manufacturing and distribution.
Cooperation between the Indonesian Investment Authority and multinational logistics company based in Dubai DP World has led to 19 investment deals. It is also expected that Indonesia’s national oil giant Pertamina will partner on floating solar panels with Masdar, an Abu Dhabi-based renewable energy company. In addition, G42, an artificial intelligence company based in Abu Dhabi, is planning to invest in smart city initiatives, telecommunications and genomics laboratories.
It is expected that a comprehensive economic partnership agreement (CEPA) between the two countries will be finalized by March 2022. This is part of the UAE’s plan to enter markets in fast-growing economies. Indonesia and the UAE also agreed to recognize each other’s vaccine certificates and to strengthen the travel corridor.
The UAE is looking to invest in non-traditional markets such as Indonesia. In effect, economic relations between the two countries hold significant potential; goods exported from Indonesia to the UAE accounted for less than 1% of the Southeast Asian total exports in September 2021, while in the third quarter of 2021, the UAE accounted for just USD 5.8 million of foreign direct investment.
(Sources: The Straits Times; The Jakarta Post)
