RI ECONOMIC CONDITIONS, INVESTMENT CLIMATE STILL PROMISING : MINISTER

Jakarta, Nov 19 (ANTARA) - The government should continue to show to the international community that Indonesia's economic conditions and investment climate are still promising despite the global economic crisis, a minister said.

State Minister for State Enterprises Sofyan Dajalil said here on Wednesday Indonesia was still weak in promoting its economic potentials to the international community.

"We have to admit that Indonesia is still weak in promoting its economic potentials, so it is advisable for the government to do more promotions," Djalil said.

Earlier, on Tuesday, Djalil received a number of officials from JP Morgan (JPM), a US-based investment company, who visited him at his office on Merdeka Selatan street.

JP Morgan is a leading global financial services firm with assets of US$2.3 trillion and operations in more than 60 countries.

The firm is a leader in investment banking, financial services for consumers, small business and commercial banking, financial transaction processing, asset management, and private equity.

Djalil said the JP Morgan officials met him because the firm had a lot of investment in many companies in Indonesia such as government banks, private banks, and a number of companies.

"They want to get an update on Indonesia's economic development, and check on the impact of the global financial crisis," he said.

He said the JPM officials visited the State Enterprises Ministry office to obtain first hand information about the impact of the global financial crisis on the Indonesian economy.

"In general, they were certain that their investments in Indonesia were still okay and there were no serious problems. They also said the crisis happened somewhere out there," Djalil said.

Therefore, he added, the government should make all possible efforts to promote the country's economic and investment potentials abroad.