Jakarta (VNA) -  Singapore’s new investment in Indonesia rose 38 percent to reach 5.04 billion USD in the first half of this year compared with the same period last year, according to Indonesian Industry Minister Airlangga Hartarto.

In the whole of 2017, Singapore's new investment in Indonesia was valued at 8.44 billion USD.

Meanwhile, Indonesia's exports of non-oil/gas commodities to Singapore stood at 9 billion USD, making that neighboring country the fifth largest destination of Indonesia’s exports of commodities other than oil and gas.

Indonesia had been active in seeking to attract investors from Singapore to do business in the Kendal Industrial Estate (KIK), which is jointly developed by Indonesian and Singaporean investors in Central Java.

The country will focus on the development of furniture polytechnics in the industrial estate, said the Indonesian minister.

KIK will be the first integrated industrial estate in Central Java and is expected to draw up to 200 trillion rupiah (nearly 15 billion USD).

In the first phase the industrial estate will occupy 1,000 hectares of land with a target of 300 tenants to open 500,000 jobs until 2025. It will be developed in three phases to occupy 2,700 hectares of land. 

Airlangga said the two countries have agreed to strengthen cooperation in the vocational education mainly to supply skilled industrial workers for the industrial estate.

Teaching staff from Indonesia have been sent to take part in a programme of vocational training in Singapore such as in machinery, power generation, industrial automation technique, he noted.

Indonesian Ambassador to Singapore Ngurah Swajaya said potential collaboration between Indonesia and Singapore is in digital economy in line with the era of Industrial Revolution 4.0.

One of the priorities is the development of Nongsa Digital Park in Batam as a realisation of agreement between the governments of two countries to make Batam a digital bridge, from Singapore to Indonesia, the ambassador said.-VNA