REPUBLIKA.CO.ID, PALEMBANG -- South Sumatra Governor Alex Noerdin believes that the province has huge potential to attract foreign investment, and the administration is ready to compete in the international business arena.

"We are ready to showcase our potential areas of investment and facilitate foreign investors to expand their businesses in Indonesia," the governor stated here on Tuesday.

Noerdin noted at the Regional Investment Forum organized by the Investment Coordinating Board in Palembang, today, that the provincial administration will be attracting potential investors from Vietnam, Thailand, Malaysia, and the other neighboring countries.

The province's natural resources and adequate infrastructure are believed to attract business sector players from other regions in the country and also those from abroad.

"Our region is like a 'showbiz' as half of the national coal potential is here. In the agriculture sector, we have rubber, palm oil, and rice that this year recorded a surplus of 2.2 million tons. We also registered an energy surplus of up to 225 megawatts generated from a steam power plant. Our natural gas potential can be used to supply power to Java Island and Singapore," Noerdin noted.

The province, which hosted the SEA Games 2011, is considered to have infrastructure of international standard that can support investment.

"South Sumatra's infrastructure is of international standard. The One-Door Integrated Service in South Sumatra has been the second-best in three years after East Java Province. The most important fact is that the province has a stable investment climate," he affirmed.

South Sumatra's readiness to organize the ASEAN Games in 2018 demonstrates that it is keen to attract investment, including from foreign nations.

Data obtained from the Investment Coordinating Board revealed that Sumatra's investment realization in 2015 had reached Rp84.4 trillion, an increase of 19 percent compared to Rp71 trillion in 2014.

In the first quarter of 2016, investment realization was recorded at Rp33 trillion, or up by 63.9 percent compared to Rp21.1 trillion in the same period last year. South Sumatra registered the highest growth at 385 percent followed by West Sumatra, at 177 percent and Jambi, at 34 percent.

Taking into account Sumatra's investment potential, it is expected that the island will be able to contribute Rp89.22 trillion, or 15 percent of the national target of Rp594.8 trillion in 2016.

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