Finnish Investment in Indonesia Remains Minimal

Foreign Direct Investment (FDI) from Finland into Indonesia reached US$3.2 million in the first half of 2018, compared to zero investment in the first half of 2017. This amount was distributed across 12 projects. According to the Ministry of Industry's data, foreign investment from the Scandinavian country into the paper, paper products, and printing industry reached US$1.75 million for two projects.

The visit of Finland's Minister for Foreign Trade and Development, Anne-Mari Virolainen, can be a momentum for Indonesia to enhance cooperation between the two countries. As is known, Finnish investment in Indonesia and bilateral trade are currently minimal. Finnish investment represents only 0.02% of the total FDI entering Indonesia during the first half of this year.

Similarly, the value of Indonesia's trade with Finland from January to July this year was only US$315.26 million, down 24.52% from the same period the previous year. This amount is less than 1% of Indonesia's total trade with all its partners. For information, Indonesia's exports to Finland in the first seven months of this year only reached US$49 million, while imports reached US$266.19 million. This means that Indonesia's trade balance with Finland experienced a deficit of US$217.12 million. Consequently, Indonesia has experienced a deficit for the past six years.