Indonesia seeks Chinese investment through local partnerships
An investment ministry adviser said domestic businesses and smaller enterprises should have opportunities to become industrial suppliers.
Indonesia has invited Chinese investors to work with local entrepreneurs to speed up economic transformation and downstream processing. Investment planning for 2025-2029 estimates that about Rp13,000 trillion is needed to support the country's economic growth target of 8 per cent in 2029, an investment ministry adviser said.
Noor Sona Maesana Mushonnif, a special adviser to the investment and downstreaming minister, discussed the partnership approach at the Global South Dialogue: China-Indonesia Roundtable Forum. In a statement dated 20 October 2026, he said investment should also create value within Indonesia, strengthen national industry and help domestic entrepreneurs grow.
Sona said Indonesian businesses, including micro, small and medium-sized enterprises, needed opportunities to supply industry. These could involve goods, maintenance services, logistics and production components. He urged large companies to explain their standards and called for assistance to help local suppliers meet those requirements.
He put China's cumulative investment in Indonesia over 2021-2025 at about US$34.44 billion. Existing cooperation includes mineral processing, manufacturing and supply chains for electric vehicle batteries.
Renewable energy, the digital economy, healthcare and food security were among the areas where Sona saw scope to expand cooperation. He also identified downstream processing in plantations, fisheries and marine industries, saying development should involve more Indonesian businesses in industrial supply chains.
For industrial partnerships to last, Sona said they needed clearly defined business relationships, better-quality local suppliers and workforce skills suited to industry requirements. He added that bilateral cooperation should rest on equality, mutual respect and shared benefits, extending beyond investment realisation into long-term partnerships.
