Foreign investors eye up Indonesia - Indonesia is attracting increasing numbers of foreign investors. In the first quarter of 2013, the country registered a rise of 30.6% in capital investment in the country, worth 93,000 billion rupees ($7.34 billion), mainly investments in the mining, pharmaceutical and mass-market electronic sectors. Indonesia is benefiting from a wave of corporate relocations from other Asian countries but is also attracting new investors. Japan is still the biggest investor, ahead of South Korea. The car sector has recently taken off, with investments being made by several Japanese groups, in addition to those from General Motors, Volkswagen and Renault. According to an expert from BNP-Paribas, Indonesia has one major advantage: inflation is under control and, at the structural level, is even lower than in other countries where raw materials are also abundant. This combination bodes well for investors, which continue to invest their capital in Indonesian shares. In 2012, flows of foreign direct investment (FDI) reached record growth levels of 26%, compared to 2011 and the country forecasts a 23% increase this year. Nonetheless, protectionist measures have recently been introduced (restrictions on employing foreigners, and restrictions on shares in local banks), which could have negative repercussions on FDI flows, according to the UNCTAD report on international investment in 2012. According to this organisation, Indonesia was among the five favourite destinations for multinational companies in the period from 2012 to 2014, coming in fourth place ahead of Brazil. In terms of FDI flows, Indonesia is in fourth place, behind China, Hong Kong and Singapore. (IL/transl.fl)