The intelligence was expressed by a cabinet minister during an official visit to US, along with President Joko Widodo, in order to attract investment in the Indonesian market, reuters reports. Widodo is keen to attract foreign investment to kickstart Southeast Asias largest economy, which has been growing at its slowest pace since 2010.
Startups like Gojek, a motorcycle taxi hailing app, and Tokopedia, an online store, will be among over five companies seeking investments from firms like Sequoia, Communications Minister Rudiantara said, the source cites. He said the visit to the tech hub area was aimed specifically at attracting private sector investment.
Widodos visit to California will come after meetings with President Barack Obama, U.S. congressional leaders and executives from energy and mining companies in Washington. Indonesia recently announced it is considering revising its negative investment list to allow foreign investment in the ecommerce sector. Rudiantara declined to comment on how much foreign ownership would be allowed.
The country currently allows no foreign investment in the local ecommerce industry, which analysts predict will be the regions largest by 2020, on the back of a voracious appetite for internet use in Indonesia. Indonesians are among the most active users in the world of social media websites like Facebook and Twitter.
In California, Widodo is also scheduled to meet Apple CEO Tim Cook as well as executives from Google, Facebook and Microsoft. Apple is looking to invest in sustainable tin mining in Indonesia, the worlds biggest tin exporter, and in setting up research and development facilities there, according to cabinet ministers.
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