AUSTRALIAN FIRMS TO INVEST US$1 BILLION IN INDONESIA

Port Moresby, March 11 (ANTARA) - Five large Australian companies will increase their investment up to US$1 billion to expand their business in Indonesia, Investment Coordinating Board (BKPM) chief Gita Wirjawan said.

"The five large Australian firms, in my rough calculation, will increase their investment up to US$1 billion to expand their business in Indonesia," Wirjawan said aboard the presidential plane that flew President Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono from Sydney to Papua New Guinea on Thursday.

He said that the five Australian companies, namely Coca Cola Amatil, Commonwealth Bank, Thiess, Ramsay Health and AIBC, would make the investment this year.

Previously, the chief executive officers of the five companies met with the President before a business forum was held in Sydney, on Thursday morning.

The business forum was attended by 140 Australian businessmen from various business sectors, including former Australian prime minister Paul Keating.

Wirjawan said that even though the value of their investment was not big, the intention of the five companies to expand their investment in Indonesia would serve as an encouragement for other Australian businessmen to make investment in Indonesia.

Coca Cola Amatil, for example, will build 10 new factories in Indonesia to increase its production which reaches 60 million annually, he said.